Russia: President Vladimir Putin announces week-long paid holiday amidst COVID-19 surge

In a renewed effort to tackle surging COVID infections in the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday, approved a non-working week starting from 30 October. According to the new decree, the non-work period will commence on next Saturday and extend through the next week, when four days are already state holidays. Russia marks Unity Day on 4 November and a gazetted holiday on 5 November as well. 

Meanwhile, Kremlin in a statement added that the diktat will allow regional authorities to extend non-working days beyond 7 November with salary retention. During the period, they would also be allowed to decide how their cultural and health organisations will function. Additionally, it also sets rules for private enterprises in the country and instructs them to furlough their employees. 

Later in a televised address, Putin asked his compatriots to get vaccinated as well as called for increased COVID testing. “It’s strange that well-educated people, people with advanced degrees, don’t want to get vaccinated. We have a safe and effective vaccine,” the Russian leaders said referring to Sputnik V. Asserting that COVID statistics should not be underestimated, he asserted that there were only two ways to get out of the pandemic - “get sick or get vaccinated, but it's better to get vaccinated.” 

According to health authorities, the countries reported 1,028 COVID related deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall toll to 222,320. Meanwhile, infections surged to 7,969,960. It is pertinent to note that despite the surging caseload, the Putin administration has stopped short of imposing a  full-fledged lockdown in the country. 

Sputnik V to get WHO approval 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it is assessing the Russia-designed vaccine for Emergency Use Listing (EUL). On Wednesday, developers of the Russian indigenous anti-coronavirus vaccine said that WHO’s preliminary assessment of the vaccine was in the final stages and a team of health inspectors will visit Moscow soon. The vector-based vaccine is jointly developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. “A group of WHO inspectors is due to visit Russia shortly to round up all necessary inspections & paperwork on #SputnikV, one of the world’s safest & most efficient vaccines,” the vaccine-maker said in an online statement.   

(Image: AP)