Moscow to lift most COVID-19 restrictions by July 1

Moscow officials can lift the highest amount of restrictions introduced to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic by July 1, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel. He noted that Moscow can continue lifting restrictions without the threat of new spikes in the infection rate.

Sobyanin added that a schedule for lifting the restrictions may be published on June 8.

Starting Monday June 1, 55% of all shops closed due to the coronavirus have been opened. The rest is set to open next week, Sobyanin said. Besides, two thirds of the service industry enterprises have reopened after receiving the corresponding permit, TASS reported.

However, it is "a little bit too early" to open some facilities like gyms and fitness centers, he stated.

The Moscow mayor added that it is too early to allow mass events in the city, however, weekend fairs will reopen soon.