The Moscow authorities believe that a lockdown must be introduced only in an extreme situation because the city's isolation will harm the economy, deputy mayor for social affairs, Anastasiya Rakova, told the round-the-clock television news channel Rossiya-24 in an interview.
"From the epidemiological standpoint, the most effective way of struggle against the pandemic is a lockdown. Total isolation of the city always brings about a drastic reduction in infection rates. But it will be a very dramatic and painful decision that would deal a colossal blow on the city's economy," Rakova said.
She recalled that in the spring of last year, the authorities had no other choice because the health service was unable to cope with its task and collapsed. Currently, the situation in the city is slightly different. The disease rates are unprecedented, but the city has a vaccine against the coronavirus.
Rakova said that despite the colossal strain, the health system is coping with all of its tasks.
"We do hope that the measures being taken will help ease the pressure on the health system and make it possible to keep businesses and the city's economy going. We will be taking proportionate measures depending on the situation," Rakova said.
