MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Moscow may introduce permits for moving across the city in case of mass violations of the self-isolation regime, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin informed on Thursday.
"<…> We have decided against introducing permits for moving across the city so far. We will reconsider this if the epidemiological situation develops unfavorably, or in case of multiple violations of the self-isolation regime. I would like to hope that neither of these things will happen," the mayor wrote on his blog.
"The results of the first non-working week have shown that there is no need for that so far. The majority of Moscow residents are staying home," he wrote. The mayor stressed the importance of the introduced measures to combat the spread of the virus.
Starting March 28, Sobyanin ruled to close all shops except those selling food and basic necessities, in the Russian capital. Pharmacies remain open, along with several pet and phone stores. All mass entertainment events have been canceled.
On March 29, the Moscow mayor introduced additional measures, declaring self-isolation measures for all residents of the capital. Citizens are only allowed to leave their homes to throw out the trash, to walk their dog or to buy food or medicine at the nearest supermarket or pharmacy.
Moscow has reported 595 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, with the total amount of those infected in the Russian capital coming up to 2,475.
In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. To date, more than 938,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 47,000 deaths have been reported. That said, over 195,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
So far, a total of 3,548 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 235 patients having recovered from the virus. The country’s latest data indicates 30 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.