On March 21, Russia proclaimed to an incredulous world it had only 306 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and only one death among its population of 146 million persons. Critics of president Vladimir Putin said his regime was counting confirmed COVID-19 cases as merely flu cases, hence the unreasonably low number.
It seems like the skeptics were right. Russia now has the second-highest COVID-19 infection rate in the world.
Forty-two days later, or on May 2, Russia has become the eighth most coronavirus infected country in the world with 124,054 cases and 1,222 deaths, according to data from Worldometer. Russia reported 9,623 new cases Saturday, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic. The first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Russia on January 31.
Epicenter for the surging pandemic is Moscow. Russia's infection curve keeps rising and is showing no signs of leveling-off. Putin has ordered restrictive measures called non-working days to continue until May 11, when Russia finishes celebrating the Labor Day and Victory Day (May 10) holidays.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said "it is obvious that the threat is on the rise," and called on Muscovites to continue self-isolating. He revealed the number of critically ill patients is rising. He also said the city government might cut the number of digital permits issued for travel across the city if the situation worsens.
Also on Saturday, Sobyanin said up to 2%, or one in 50, people in Moscow's population might be infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus. If Sobyanin's estimate is correct, that will mean more than 240,000 Muscovites might have the virus, a total that's four times the official figure for the city.
Lending credence to this estimate are verified reports hospitals Moscow are already at capacity. TV news programs show ambulancesbeing forced to wait for hours to deliver the infected. One news report said ambulances have to wait for up to 10 hours to offload their patients at a Moscow hospital.
National health authorities fear outbreaks might continue to simmer undetected in other areas initially thought to have escaped the worst ravages of the disease. More and more high profile Russians have fallen victim to COVID-19.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the second-most senior official in the country after Putin, has tested positive for coronavirus. He said he's temporarily stepping down to recover. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov is now serving as acting prime minister.
On Friday, construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev (another member of the Russian cabinet) revealed he's been diagnosed with the virus and is seeking hospital treatment. Dmitry Volkov, one of his deputies, also tested positive.
