The obligatory wearing of a mask in the metro and a ban on holding mass events will probably be valid in Moscow even after the majority of anti-wing restrictions are lifted in the spring. This was announced on Wednesday, March 10, by the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, in an interview with TASS.
“We canceled most of the previously existing restrictions in January-February. Most likely, the remaining restrictions can be lifted in the spring. Perhaps some precautions, for example, mask mode in the subway or restriction of mass events, will have to be maintained longer, ”he said.
According to him, decisions to lift the current restrictions depend on the rate of vaccination and the formation of herd immunity.
The mayor stressed that since the beginning of the pandemic in Moscow, the pace and mechanisms of managerial decision-making have changed.
“In March 2020, everything changed: approvals, which previously took months, now require one phone call. Decisions that have been developed over the years are now taken in a day, “Sobyanin said.
He added that the experience gained over the past year will be useful after “the city turns the current page.”
The mayor also explained that “without the understanding and support of millions of Muscovites, we would not have coped with the pandemic,” and there could have been many more victims. For him, as the head of the city noted, this is “a unique management experience.”
As Sobyanin noted, this year Muscovites, instead of participating in city festivals, have become involuntary participants in the “carnival of masks.” “The pandemic made people worry about the health of their loved ones. And for many Muscovites, including my friends, it turned into a tragedy of losing a loved one. The pandemic has made it impossible to enjoy the vibrant, open city in which life rages on a daily basis. Instead, we saw empty streets and subways, ”the mayor said.
Hundreds of billions of rubles had to be spent on the fight against the pandemic, which could have been used with much greater benefit for Muscovites, the mayor stated, but he believes that these are temporary losses and Moscow’s economy and city budget revenues are recovering quite quickly.
On March 8, the deputy mayor of the capital for social development Anastasia Rakova said that residents of Moscow have developed population immunity to coronavirus since the lockdown in the city was lifted.
On the same day, she also said that more than 700 thousand people were vaccinated in the capital. In addition, since March 8, isolation regime has ceased to be mandatory for Muscovites over 65 and with chronic diseases. From the same day, the transport cards of citizens of this category were unlocked.