With COVID-19 deaths climbing and hospitals strained, Russia rolls out restrictions

As an increasingly deadly fourth wave of COVID-19 threatens to overwhelm Russia's hospitals, officials who had been hesitant to implement restrictions in recent months are doing so now in a desperate attempt to try to reduce the record number of people dying every day. 

On Monday, there was an all-time high of 37,930 new cases, along with 1,069 additional deaths, according to the country's coronavirus task force.

"There is a real war in the red zone in hospitals throughout the country," Dr. Denis Protsenko, the country's chief coronavirus doctor, wrote on his Telegram social media account

"Look at the number of free beds and a lot will fall into place."

Protsenko is the head doctor at the Kommunarka infection disease hospital in Moscow, 

Municipal officials say since September, cases in Russia's capital have risen by 30 per cent each week and are hovering around 8,000 a day — a trajectory that Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has acknowledged is a "worst-case scenario."

To try to curb the spread, the city is bringing in a partial lockdown that will begin Thursday. 

As of Monday, it is ordering anyone over the age of 60 to stay home until Feb. 25 if they haven't been vaccinated or previously infected with COVID-19 during the past six months. 

On his website, Sobyanin made a plea to grandparents to get vaccinated, pointing out that the vaccination rate for those older than 60 is slightly more than 30 per cent in Moscow, while that demographic makes up 86 per cent of those dying in the city's hospitals.

In an effort to increase vaccinations among that age group and those with chronic illnesses, the city of 12 million is imposing tough restrictions that kick in on Oct. 25 for those who haven't been vaccinated or previously infected. 

They are supposed to stay at home for four months, but are allowed out for walks and exercise.  

It's not clear how the order will be enforced, but during the first lockdown in the spring of 2020, Maria Markova said public health officials called to check up on her to make sure she was at home. 

The 73-year-old, who had COVID-19 in 2020, isn't vaccinated and said it's because of underlying health conditions. 

"I don't think it is right that they force people," Markova told CBC as she was out for a walk near the Moscow river on Friday.