© Sputnik / Konstantin Mikhalchevskii
Russians will get a week of paid leave and a boost to benefits for those most in need, while the wealthiest will have to pay more revenue taxes, the Russian president said as he presented his plan to deal with the coronavirus.
Speaking in a televised address on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin announced a number of measures designed to support the Russian people and the national economy amid the increasingly serious threat of coronavirus in the country.
He said there was no feasible way to keep the virus out, but that an efficient, coordinated effort to preempt and mitigate the damage will help protect people from the worst outcomes.
Week-long holiday
One of the immediate decisions taken by the government was
to declare next week a long national holiday in Russia. Salaries for the days off will still be paid, Putin said. This is expected to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The president warned against underestimating the threat posed by the virus and said everyone should act responsibly.
Please, don't think like people often do: 'This cannot touch me.' It may touch anyone.
Constitution vote postponed
Russia will also postpone the national vote on constitutional amendments, which is currently scheduled for April 22. The package of constitutional amendments was tabled by Russia's president back in January and greenlit by legislators earlier this month.
Comment: Violating quarantine in Russia may result in up to
seven years in prison, if new regulations are passed. Russian military specialists have
arrived in Italy to help with the crisis there:
The convoy, composed of 22 trucks and other vehicles, set off for the northern Italian city of Bergamo early on Wednesday. The convoy, escorted by the Italian Carabinieri, has reached Florence, making a brief stop there, the Russian military says.
One hundred Russian military medics and disease specialists were airlifted to Italy over the weekend, landing at Pratica di Mare Air Base 30km (18.6 miles) from Rome. The team, deployed to help Italy in its fight against coronavirus, brought mobile laboratories, disinfection vehicles, coronavirus test kits, and other equipment to battle the disease.
How's that for optics? While the EU does nothing, help comes from Russia with love. Here's how the mayor of Bergamo
described the situation to RT (keeping in mind that the public nature of the crisis will cause more people with serious illnesses to go to the hospital who otherwise might have received treatment elsewhere, thus contributing to overwhelming the system):
The healthcare system has been entirely overwhelmed by the outbreak, Gori told Il Messaggero on Wednesday, with everyone "working from 8am till we collapse exhausted in the evening."
"Too many people are arriving in hospitals late and in grave condition, requiring intubation in intensive care units," Gori said, adding that more than 300 people died last week in Bergamo region alone.
Many just can't make it to a hospital and die at home. Nearly all of them are elderly people with pneumonia and are Covid-19 cases that had slipped under the radar.
The mayor warned that it is "difficult... to intercept such people in time, and there is no room for everyone in the hospitals."
Extrapolating from Italy's
Sismg mortality data, Bergamo province ordinarily experiences between 150 and 200 deaths per week around this time of year, with spikes of up to 300. There is no doubt some overlap between the Covid-related deaths this last week, and people who would have died regardless, but it does show that the region is experiencing more deaths among the elderly than usual, especially considering that only
8% of deaths in Italy on average are from respiratory illness.
Italy recorded
683 deaths over the last day, a dip from 743 the day before. Note that unlike Spain, Italy's death cases are "confirmed" by testing, although everyone who dies while testing positive counts as a covid-related death, even if the virus can't be identified as the cause of death. 99.2% of deaths have been in people with serious pre-existing conditions, and only 12% have listed the coronavirus as a direct cause of death.
Local French authorities have banned
alcohol sales in Aisne, ostensibly to cut back on family violence. Spain officially overtook China's death toll with
3,434 reported deaths (again, Spain is not testing, so these are all guesses). Wuhan recorded
zero new cases, and Hubei residents boarded
trains in large crowds as restrictions were finally removed. India banned the
export of hydroxychloroquine. London City Airport is
closing under the lockdown. Prince Charles tested
positive, suffering mild symptoms.
New Yorks governor says NYC will
close some streets to cars, allowing them to be used by pedestrians, because people don't currently have enough space to adequately follow the new "social distancing" rules. Pennsylvania
reversed the Covid-19 gun sale ban by classifying gun shops as "life-sustaining businesses". Trump's response to Romney testing negative was slightly amusing:
Here's UN Chief Guterres's
take on the current situation:
"Global action and solidarity are crucial. Individual country responses are not going to be enough," Guterres said on Wednesday.
The secretary general said the Covid-19 crisis is unlike anything the UN has faced in its 75-year history and is pleading with the developed world to raise trillions of dollars to help poorer countries fight off the deadly viral scourge.
The UN is launching a $2 billion program to help the world's poor fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Guterres has repeatedly called for aid from G20 nations this week as the global pandemic worsens and threatens to reach what he described as "apocalyptic proportions."
He also called for a ban on tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions, as well as the waiving of sanctions which might impede countries from getting much needed food and medical supplies.
Guterres also suggested the G20 should create a mechanism for dealing with future pandemics, though he did not specify what form this would take. He said that a "two-digit" percentage of the global economy should be allocated to improving response to pandemics.
Meanwhile, the IMF and the World Bank have called for governments to suspend debt payments owed by the world's poorest nations to free up resources to fight the pandemic.
Sounds to us like he's exaggerating...
See also:
Comment: It's clear the US and UK are hoping that Assange's death will solve their problem for them. How sick is that?