蜜芽传媒

How can Russia balance civil freedoms with the need to tackle a surge in Covid-19 cases?

In recent weeks the Delta variant has been spreading - with the country now recording just under 20,000 new daily cases - a level of infection not seen since January.

This has all lead to concern that the Euro 2020 championship football matches being hosted in St Petersburg could become super-spreader events.

But many Russians are unwilling to see their civil freedoms curtailed.

Dmitry Kulish, professor at Skolltech, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow, says the government is now introducing some measures to suppress the spread like cancelling some big events, and only allowing vaccinated people to go into Moscow's restaurants.

But his biggest disappointment is that so few people have yet to be vaccinated.

"The vaccine situation is the big shame of Russia. People who belong to the scientific community, we were always proud of Russia's cultural and intelligent place, and when we see this major hesitation to vaccinate, it is painful to us... I've been asked how to improve the situation for half a year and I still don't know the answer."

(Photo: Life continues as normal in Nevsky Prospekt Street in St Petersburg. Credit: Getty Images)

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