Fighting the virus in Russia, Czech Republic
Behind the frontlines: Creativity and solidarity amid govt measures, lockdowns
Hey there, I hope you’re holding up okay in all this madness. It’s been a minute since “From Russia With Mila” hit your inbox, but after taking some time to process everything going on, she’s back!
In Russia and the Czech Republic, two varying pictures of life during coronavirus are painted. Russia, with a population of 145 million, saw a spike in cases later than its surrounding European and Asian neighbors, so the peak and decline will likely come later, as well. On the other hand, the Czech Republic, with a population of just 10.7 million, was able to move swiftly and shut the country down in efforts to stop the spread.
🇷🇺🇨🇿Here’s how these Eastern European countries look now:
From Russia with the latest stats and measures
🦠In Russia, there are 80,949 reported cases of coronavirus and 747 deaths.
Self-isolation will extend at least into mid-May, canceling celebrations, parades and mass gatherings for Labor Day and Victory Day. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin asked the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation to send fourth- and fifth-year medical students to practice in coronavirus hospitals. Russian Internet company Yandex said it will provide free coronavirus tests to everyone in Moscow as the capital’s cases quickly rise. Deportations of foreigners are temporarily suspended over the next couple of months. More recently, Sobyanin introduced a digital travel pass system allowing Moscow residents to travel outside their homes while being monitored by traffic police, but there have been difficulties obtaining travel permits in Russian cities.
Many regions are under quarantine now, and there are strict measures for maintaining lockdown orders. Facial recognition cameras assist in identifying people violating orders to quarantine, and Moscow police can directly issue fines to residents not obeying the lockdown.
Virtual protests popped up in Russian cities as demonstrators used Yandex.Maps and Yandex.Navigator to gather outside government buildings and leave messages demanding “either the authorities introduce a full quarantine regime (which would provide local residents with guaranteed social assistance from the government) or the removal of restrictions preventing people from going to work,” according to Meduza.
🏠Some better news… Psychiatric hospitals went into precautionary lockdowns, so some Moscow residents opened their homes to mental health patients and disabled children. (Reuters)
➡️Here’s a helpful timeline of cases and practices in Russian from Mediazona, and here is one in English from the Moscow Times.
Working from home, Bolshoi Theatre style
🩰With lockdown measures in full-effect, the iconic Russian ballet has its doors closed.
The Bolshoi is estimated to lose more than $100,000 a day from ticket sales, and with 3,400 people on payroll and Russian President Putin’s orders for businesses to continue paying employees in the midst of the lockdown, Bolshoi Director Vladimir Urin hopes for a government bailout, according to the Washington Post.
In the meantime, ballet dancers across Russia are turning to social media to perform at home — with kitchens and setting the stage:
It begins in a Moscow dining room. Ballet dancer Ivan Vasiliev, a veteran of stages including the Bolshoi, is dressed in a T-shirt and times his moves to pretend he is giving his daughter’s doll a haircut. The scene shifts to the kitchen, where a ballerina is gliding along the counter in pointe shoes.
The informal — but carefully choreographed — video goes on for another two minutes, showing various Russian dancers turning dishwashing, sweeping and cooking into art amid the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. (From WaPo’s article)
Czech Republic eases restrictions as cases dip
The Czech Republic moved very quickly to implement strict lockdown measures after declaring a state of emergency on March 12, closing borders and all non-essential businesses, and requiring masks to be worn in public by all 10.7 million residents. Just over a month after these strict measures, there are 7,387 reported cases and 220 deaths.
😷Because of a shortage of masks, there has been a lot of creativity and solidarity as residents work together to provide protection for each other. As one of the most homogeneous countries in the world, the Czech Republic has experienced difficulties in social integration. A Prague-based NGO (formed in the last couple of years by working mothers from Vietnam originally to provide resources on immigration hurdles typically faced in the Czech Republic) started a Facebook group calling for those with sewing skills and materials to make masks. More than 1,000 people stepped up, and a website was created where fellow residents could place orders, according to Al Jazeera.
🐣Traditions halted… If you are unfamiliar with the controversial Czech Easter tradition with pagan origins, I encourage you to read more here: BBC. On Easter Monday, men lightly whip women with switches made of willow branches to ensure fertility. In return for a whipping, women give the men shots of plum brandy, a.k.a. slivovice, and painted eggs. The coronavirus lockdown, of course, prevented the rather, er, physical celebration of Easter this year.
In the weeks following Easter, the Czech Republic (along with other European countries — CNN) began easing restrictions, allowing people to be outside exercising without face masks and non-essential businesses to ease open.
Here are people waiting to enter a reopened shop in Havirov, Czech Republic. (CNN)
With essential travel outside the country now permitted, Czech javelin thrower Irena Gillarová told CNN she looks forward to international competitions hopefully starting up again soon, like the European Athletics Championships in Paris this August, especially since the Olympics this summer have been postponed.
Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and look out for each other.
As always, reach out with any questions or comments, connect on Twitter for the latest, and stop back for more on media and Eastern Europe!
— Мила (Mila)