[ad_1]
Russian President Vladimir Putin has spent months living in isolation and surrounded by precautions, to avoid becoming infected with the coronavirus. Russia is often compared to the United States and Brazil for the number of cases and difficulties encountered in coping with the pandemic. But while the American and Brazilian presidents have continued their commitments with scant precautions and both have contracted Covid-19, Putin lives in a kind of bubble: he has reduced meetings and public events to a minimum, he has not traveled abroad since January. and he works most of the time from his residence outside Moscow, which has been equipped to minimize the chances of contagion and where entry is limited.
About him New York TimesAnton Troianovski wrote that the bubble in which Putin lives far exceeds all containment measures adopted by the other heads of state, and that the Russian president’s caution contrasts with the rhetoric of a return to normality of his government. After the government declared “victory” against the coronavirus last summer, Russian citizens have largely returned to their former lives. The idea that the worst was over was reinforced when Putin announced in August that Russian researchers had registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine. In the meantime, however, Putin did not return to his previous life and, in fact, has remained protected by many precautions since then.
– Read also: Russia has reached a million cases and has an untested vaccine
Most heads of state and government have long started participating in public events. The most obvious example is that of Donald Trump, who tested positive for coronavirus, but European Union leaders also met in person last week in Brussels for the European Council summit, while wearing masks and staying apart. The leaders have already started traveling again, in moderation: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen paid an official visit to Portugal, but later discovered that one of the people she met was positive, and quarantined.
Putin does not take these risks, or at least avoids them as much as possible. The Russian president is limiting face-to-face contact to a minimum: Reporters haven’t seen him up close since March, with the exception of an in-person television interview. And unlike most of his colleagues, Putin has never stopped working remotely. He has equipped a rather spartan conference room in his presidential residence outside Moscow, and from there he participates in government meetings and Security Council meetings. The house has been equipped to avoid contagion as much as possible: at the entrances, for example, tunnels have been installed that spray disinfectant liquid on the guests, sought by the authorities although the builders say that against the coronavirus they are of little use.
In-person meetings with Putin are kept to a minimum, and anyone who wants to get close to the Russian president must remain in quarantine for 14 days. Last spring, after the end of the confinement, he told the New York Times, Putin participated in the military parade for the 75th anniversary of Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany. Putin approached a group of veterans and shook hands. However, all of the elderly ex-soldiers had been quarantined at a resort for 14 days before being able to approach the president.
– Read also: The coronavirus vaccine developed in Russia has shown promising results
The president’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said that these measures were necessary to ensure the health of the elderly, not Putin’s, but other sources of the New York Times, like the journalist Andrei Kolesnikov, confirm that anyone who wants to see the president must quarantine for at least two weeks. According to local media, the government uses two large spas in the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi to house people who must be quarantined before meeting Putin. Peskov declined to comment on Putin’s precautions, but said that “some people are quarantined for two weeks, others for a few days and some do not.” This suggests that there are exceptions: for example, in mid-September Putin met with Alexander Lukashenko, the controversial Belarusian president, and the timing of their meeting is not compatible with a long quarantine.
Putin is famous for his extreme precautions when it comes to health, coupled with a certain paranoia: Last year, during the G20 in Japan, he was the only international leader to bring his own drinking cup instead of using glasses. already available on the table. His spokesman said it was a matter of habit: Putin always drinks tea from the same thermal mug.
Peskov hinted that Putin will not resume his normal life until he receives the vaccine. Russian has already been tested on many people, including the president’s daughter, but not on him.
[ad_2]
