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Coronavirus pandemic

Moscow mayor claims removing restrictions harder than introducing them

Sergei Sobyanin explained that when introducing the restrictions the virus was to blame, while when lifting them "you have only yourself to blame"

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. Making decisions to scale back the coronavirus-related restrictions turned out to be harder than introducing them, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Wednesday during his meeting with the troupe of the Oleg Tabakov Drama Theater.

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"It was difficult to make decisions on the restrictions, including the closing of theaters. But those decisions were aimed at protecting against infection, illness, and death. Those decisions were tough but understandable. Not everyone approved of them, nor understood them. And when one is making the reverse decisions on the openings, they turn out to be even tougher," Sobyanin said. He explained that when introducing the restrictions "the virus was to blame, while when lifting them you have only yourself to blame and accept full responsibility."

"One needs to sense whether the right moment was chosen, factors dependent on the incidence of the disease, on economics, on culture, — all of them need to come together and one needs to make a decision on optimal restrictions or on their optimal removal," Sobyanin added.

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