russia: covid 19 times

 

Just like the rest of the world, the Covid 19 pandemic hit Russia. Just like the rest of the world, much of the country was closed down.As I heard about what was happening in the States each day, I heard about decisions made by the Russian government as well.

Russia closed its border with China fairly early on, which is a pretty big deal. As far as I know, Chinese citizens do not need a visa to travel in Russia, and there are normally a LOT of Chinese tourists nearly everywhere.

Not long after I heard news of schools and cities shutting down in the States, we got news that Russia would be doing the same thing. Though the decisions were always officially left up to the regional governors, I think they all followed Moscow.

Mid-March we got news that we would have one more week of in class school, then there would be a three week closing of all schools. This was about the same time that many school systems in the States decided they would be closed for months, if not the rest of the school year.

The first week was just the closing of schools. As far as I know, not much else was closed. Toward the end of the first week, it was announced that the next week would be a 'holiday' week for everyone. Everyone was supposed to stay home, and the workdays would be considered official holidays, meaning people should be paid. (Whether payments actually happened was a different matter, as some businesses simply could not afford to pay their employees while they stayed home.)

The weather was particularly good that weekend, so almost no one stayed home. The mayor of Moscow allegedly saw videos and photos of people in huge gatherings all over the city, and apparently got really mad. The stay at home suggestion suddenly became an order, and the time was lengthened.

I think the first self isolation regime (as the Russian government called it,) was supposed to last a month, through 30 April. It quickly became apparent that it would be extended, and it was. I can't remember if the extension was all at once, or in several steps, but the long and short was that the majority of residents in Moscow had to stay home through the end of May.

Those weeks of self-isolation had some rules. We were allowed out to walk to our nearest supermarket or pharmacy. We were allowed out to take out rubbish. If you had a dog, you were allowed out to take the dog for a walk, within 100 meters of your residence.

Sometime in mid-April, the city government decided residents weren't staying home as much as they should, so they introduced a regime of digital passes. There were rumors about this system as soon as the lockdown began, so there was no real surprise when it finally happened.

The rules said that everyone needed one of these digital passes if they used a form of transport other than their own feet. Riding a scooter, taking a bus, driving a car, etc... All forms of transport. (I want to point out that the public transport systems of Moscow never stopped running during the entire time.)

To get a digital pass, you had to put your information into one of several online systems. I never got one of the passes, so I never learned much about how it all worked. Something about putting in passport numbers, address where you live and address where you're going, and phone number?

I think once you put in your information, the system kept it, so when you needed another pass you just had to apply again. Regular residents were allowed two of these passes each week, essential workers were allowed to have as many as needed. If you rode public transport, you had to connect your public transport card.

My flat sits on a big intersection, so I got to see more of how the city was affected by the closure of so many things. There was definitely less traffic for a few weeks, but starting in May, there were a lot more people and cars on the road.

At the beginning of June, the city created a schedule to allow people to go for walks, based on your address. The schedule gave everyone two specific weekday walks, and one weekend walk. The schedule was meant for the hours of 0900-2100, anyone and everyone could exercise/walk as much as they wanted from 0500-0900.

As soon as we were allowed out to walk, I took advantage. Not being allowed out to exercise, or just walk for over two months was tough. My closest supermarket and pharmacy are in my building, so I had very little distance to go when I needed supplies. That being said, sometimes I went to a supermarket about 300 meters down the road, just for a little variety.

I taught from home for 13 weeks I think. Schools were finally allowed to reopen the last full week of June, with staff and teachers expected to wear masks or face shields. (As well as a lot of deep cleaning and less moving around.)