Vladimir Putin backed a proposal for nonworking days in Russia from October 30 to November 7 because of the pandemic with the preservation of wages.
"(It is necessary - ed) to break the chain of the spread of the virus. I draw the attention of my colleagues in the regions: in no case should we underestimate or embellish the picture. In today's situation it is dangerous and irresponsible," he said at a video meeting with members of the government.
Heads of regions have the right to impose restrictions ahead of schedule, without waiting for a set date.
If necessary, non-working days can be extended beyond November 7, the head of state added.
Such measures had been earlier suggested to the president by deputy prime minister Tatyana Golikova.
He urged local authorities to increase the rate of vaccination, including the possibility of introducing days off after the procedure.
"There, after all, a certain number of people may have a fever after vaccination, I had it - after the second vaccination the temperature was 37, nevertheless, it is a temperature increase. In principle, two days of sitting at home - it will only help," said the president.
Putin also supported the initiative to support business, which at the meeting was voiced by first deputy prime minister Andrei Belousov - a one-time payment of grants in the amount of minimum wage for the employee in the affected industries (mainly small and medium-sized businesses).
According to the cabinet's estimates, the shortfall in income from the two-week break will amount to 60 billion rubles. The payments will require 27 billion rubles, and the coverage will be about two million people. The program of concessional lending for business at a rate of 3% for a year with an interest-free period in the first six months will resume, provided that at least 90% of jobs will be saved. The size of the loan will depend on the number of employees, the limit is 500 million rubles.
In recent days, Russia has been updating historical highs in the number of deaths and those infected with coronavirus. In the past 24 hours, 1,028 died and 34,073 more were infected.
Yesterday the Moscow authorities announced new restrictions: unvaccinated elderly people go on self-isolation for three months, employers are obliged to transfer at least 30% of unvaccinated employees to remote work, by January 1 at least 80% of service sector workers must be vaccinated.
Vaccination remains the most reliable means of protection. According to Mikhail Murashko, head of the Russian Ministry of health, the proportion of vaccinated COVID-19 patients who are seriously ill is less than 0.03 percent, while the vast majority of patients in hospitals are unvaccinated. At the end of September, WHO stated that mortality from SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the refusal of preventive immunization.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from RIA Novosti