Covid-19 Is Whipping Up a Cold Russian Winter
Case numbers are rising in Russia, with hotspots emerging in distant regions. It’s straining a system that has hoarded resources at the center.
Coronavirus cases in Russia are hitting new records.
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/BloombergCoronavirus infections are hitting records again in Russia, the world’s fifth hardest-hit nation in absolute terms. This time, the provinces are bearing the brunt, with nearly three-quarters of new cases registered outside of Moscow. Worrying reports suggest some areas are running out of beds, doctors and even oxygen.
Even going by official numbers that may understate the toll, this latest wave is turning into a serious test for President Vladimir Putin’s administration. The Kremlin delegated the handling of the pandemic to local authorities ill-equipped for it and now the caseload is straining a system that has centralized power and resources for much of the past two decades. At the same time, Russia’s first approved Covid-19 vaccine, a public relations coup, has hit production hiccups.
Initially, Moscow was the focus of Russia’s outbreak. The city has well-equipped, world-class hospitals. A powerful mayor spoke up quickly and imposed strict local lockdown measures. That made it easier to justify a swift relaxation of restrictions in May, and likely helped Russia’s economy do better than feared. Yet failing to clamp down more broadly for longer meant new case numbers stayed high through the summer — never too far from 5,000 daily, even at their lowest.
The first wave never went away. It simply built up into a trickier second round.
The infections are now hitting Russia where it hurts, in often-distant regions poorly served by primary care doctors and modern technical amenities. Adjusting for population, official numbers for active cases suggest the Altai republic in southern Siberia, the oil-rich district of Yamalo-Nenets in the far north and Kalmykia in the southwest are all worse-hit than the capital. Rates of infection are accelerating in two-fifths of the country’s 85 regions, with most, like the republic of Altai , seeing far higher infection rates than in the spring, even accounting for increased testing. For now, most have only modest restrictions in place to combat the spread.