Moscow Imposes General Curfew on Monday as Coronavirus Infection Spreads

All Moscow residents will be required to stay in home self-isolation from Monday, Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Sunday, according to Life.ru.

“Today, I signed a decree on extra measures to prevent a rapid spread of COVID-2019,” he wrote on his blog. “Starting from tomorrow, the home self-isolation regime will be binding on all Moscow residents, regardless of their age.”

People will be allowed to leave their homes only for emergency medical assistance, trips to work and back, dog walking to a distance of not more than 100 meters from the house, and to buy food in the nearest store and throw away garbage. Movements across the city will be allowed for holders of special permits issued by the Moscow city government.

“A smart home regime control and movements system will be deployed in the coming days. Control will be further toughened,” Sobyanin added.

People are strongly advised not to leave home without extreme necessity and to observe a distance of at least 1.5 meters.Organizations and companies are obliged to ensure observance of the 1.5-meter distance requirement.

Following the city of Moscow announcement, a source in the regional government said that ‘for now’ there were no plans for a curfew in the Moscow Region.

On Sunday, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev stressed the importance of taking measures to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and thanked medical professionals for their work.

“Thanks to that we are able to restrain the rapid spread of the disease. Nevertheless, we must be prepared for different scenarios of its development. An unfavorable scenario will require even tougher decisions. Therefore, it is important to do everything to prevent this from happening: carefully consider the President’s words, to exercise self-discipline, and above all, simply not to create additional risks for yourself and your loved ones,” Medvedev said.

Over 1,000 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the city of Moscow, while in Russia the number of infected patients reached 1,534.