Russia's low COVID-19 figures, which stood at 1,534 confirmed cases and only nine deaths in a country of 146 million as of Sunday evening has long been seen as suspect or outright false by Western health authorities.
On Sunday, however, Russia admitted to 270 new cases in a single day, its largest spike thus far, and followed-up this stunning revelation by announcing travel restrictions in Moscow. Russia is ranked 33rd among countries most infected by COVID-19.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the city government starting Monday will impose tighter restrictions on residents as it tries to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Moscow is the country's coronavirus epicenter and accounts for more than 1,000 of Russia's total admitted cases of 1,534.
Sobyanin said Muscovites will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food or medicines, get urgent medical treatment, walk the dog or take out the trash. People needing to go to work will also be allowed to leave their homes. Moscow authorities will introduce a system of passes in the coming days to enforce the travel restrictions.
On Sunday, Sobyanin said the coronavirus outbreak has entered a new phase as the number of cases exceeded 1,000 Moscow. He berated Muscovites for not heeding previous calls to stay at home. More restrictions are on the way.
"Gradually but steadily, we will keep tightening control as needed in this situation," said Sobyanin.
Sobyanin regrets many Muscovites are still going out despite repeated pleas not to do so. He said at least 52,000 people took walks in city parks on Saturday. More alarmingly, many elderly people made long trips on public transport, he said.
"The situation with the spread of coronavirus has entered a new phase," according to Sobyanin. "An example of miserable Italian and Spanish cities, even New York, where tens and hundreds of people die every day is in front of everyone's eyes."
To further contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Russia has halted international flights, closed its borders and declared a non-working week from this weekend. It's also closed shops and entertainment venues in Moscow and some other regions.
Russia's unnaturally low infection figures can either be due to inadequate testing or might also be outright lies sanctioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dr. Anastasia Vasilyeva, leader of the Alliance of Doctors union, recently made headlines when she claimed Russian officials are covering-up the real coronavirus numbers by using pneumonia and acute respiratory infection as a diagnosis.
"You see, they said the first coronavirus patient that died, that the cause of death was thrombosis," said Vasilyeva. "That's obvious, nobody dies from coronavirus itself, they die from the complications, so it's very easy to manipulate this."
Russia's spy agencies and censors have also been busy deleting social media posts claiming president Putin is covering up the true toll being inflicted by COVID-19 on the Russian population. In early March, the Federal Security Service (Russia's version of the CIA) and internet watchdog, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor), deleted a viral social media post claiming the real number of COVID-19 cases in Russia is 20,000 and that Putin is covering it up.
