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MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said Russia would gradually ease the coronavirus-related blockade measures starting Tuesday (May 12), but that individual regions would need to adapt their approach to different local conditions.
In a televised speech on Monday, Putin also announced new social assistance payments for families with children and new support measures for the Russian economy.
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“Starting tomorrow, May 12, the national non-working day period will end for all sectors of the economy,” Putin said.
The president’s announcement comes after Russia registered a record number of daily cases on Monday, with more than 11,000 people testing positive in the past 24 hours.
Health officials have recorded a total of 221,344 coronavirus infections and 2,009 deaths.
Now it has overtaken Italy and the United Kingdom to have the third highest number of cases in the world.
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Putin said Russia had used the period of self-isolation to prepare its health system, increasing the number of hospital beds and saving “thousands of lives.”
This “allows us to gradually lift the restrictions,” he said.
“It is in everyone’s interest that the economy return to normal quickly.”
Construction, agriculture and energy should be restarted first, he added.
“The epidemic and associated restrictions have had a strong impact on the economy and have affected millions of our citizens,” he said.
As people begin to return to work, the mass events are still suspended and “strict demands for sanitation must be observed,” Putin said.
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