In Moscow, an increase in the incidence of covid has been recorded since mid-September. On September 28, the city operational headquarters reported that more than 2.5 thousand new cases of Covid-19 were detected per day. A day earlier, there were 3387 new cases in Moscow. The number of patients admitted to hospital with covid is also increasing. So, according to the operational headquarters , on September 28, 971 patients were hospitalized in Moscow per day. This is the maximum figure per day since August 3, when 1,030 people were reported hospitalized.READ ALSO

Meduza’s source at a covid hospital in Kommunarka confirms that the number of hospitalizations is on the rise. “The admission of patients has increased by a third, in front of the emergency department there are again queues from ambulances. Patients of moderate severity, strain  delta . The same state as in the third wave, ”he said.

“Since the week before last, there has been an increase,” said Dmitry Belyakov, head of the ambulance workers’ union, paramedic from the ambulance substation in Zheleznodorozhny. Meduza’s interlocutor from the 52nd city hospital, where patients with covid are delivered, also said that hospitalizations are growing. However, he stressed, the growth is relatively slow so far: “From the end of May to the beginning of June, when it was explosive and everything was overloaded, there is no comparison.”READ ALSO

Before the indicators of the third wave, which took place in the summer of 2021, when at the peak in Moscow there were more than 9,000 new cases of covid, and almost 2,000 patients with coronavirus were admitted to hospitals per day, it is really far away. However, as Meduza previously reported , the city hall is preparing for the fourth wave. At a meeting at the mayor’s office held last week, in particular, it was said that, if necessary, restrictions would be introduced – the transfer of companies to remote work (up to 30% of employees), QR codes for visitors to cafes and cinemas, mandatory self-isolation for pensioners and people with chronic diseases.

So far, the city authorities have decided to tighten control over the observance of the mask regime. Several large shopping centers, the head of the department of trade and services of the capital, Aleksey Nemeryuk, reported on September 27, have already received warnings. In particular, we are talking about the Atrium shopping center , where many visitors and sellers during the check were without masks or “with masks on their chin”. “Atrium”, said the chief inspector of the Association of Administrative and Technical Inspections (OATI) Yan Popovsky, faces a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles. In case of harm to human health, he added, the shopping center can be fined up to 1 million rubles or even closed for 90 days.

Morbidity and hospitalizations are growing not only in Moscow, but also in other regions of Russia. So, in Udmurtia, it was reported on September 28 that the bed capacity for patients with covid was almost 100% full , in the Saratov region – by 94% , in the Rostov region – by almost 90% . In Udmurtia and the Perm Territory, they introduce visits to public events, cinema, theaters, gyms and cafes using a QR code. Similar measures have been taken in the Samara region; they plan to tighten restrictions in the Rostov region.

Representatives of Moscow business are also expecting a return of restrictions. “The mayor’s office hasn’t told us anything yet, but back in the summer, when QR codes were canceled, they said that there would be a new wave in the fall and we shouldn’t relax,” says Dmitry Levitsky, founder of the HURMA Group of companies, which owns and operates restaurants in Moscow and regions of Russia. 

“Nemeryuk hasn’t had any official meetings yet, but everyone understands that everything will be according to the old scheme, if the numbers grow – first nightclubs, then restaurants will work until 23:00,” he adds.

“The decision will most likely be made in a few days, like last time,” says Sergey Mironov, founder of the Meat & Ryba restaurant chain and the ombudsman of the Moscow restaurant business. “Until the last moment Moscow will try not to close anything and not to impose restrictions, because the restaurant business is already on the verge of exhaustion and in case of closure it will need to be heavily subsidized.”

(c)MEDUZA 2021