6/18/21
Moscow reported its highest-ever number of new coronavirus infections Friday, as the city’s health authorities warned “new, aggressive mutations” of the virus were spreading at an alarming pace. Russia’s national coronavirus task force confirmed 9,056 new Covid-19 cases in Moscow over the last 24 hours — a 46% surge on the previous day. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin moved Friday to extend a limited number of restrictions in the capital in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. Among other measures, Sobyanin ordered the Euro 2020 fan park to close, cancelled mass events with over 1,000 participants, and extended an 11 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants. The previous highest number of cases reported in Moscow was 8,203 on Dec. 24, during the midst of the country’s second wave of the virus. Moscow has started to rapidly reprofile hospitals to increase the number of beds available to coronavirus patients. The number of designated Covid-19 beds is now almost back at levels seen during the first peak of hospitalizations last spring. “It's most likely we are facing new, more aggressive variants which spread more quickly,” said Sobyanin during a video conference with government officials battling the pandemic. “It's tripling, there's an enormous dynamic that we have not seen during the previous waves.” Alongside new restrictions on mass events, Sobyanin ended a non-working week in the capital, which had seen workers sent on a week-long paid vacation in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus among the capital’s working population, who health authorities said accounted for the bulk of infections.
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