Russia has imposed COVID-19 restrictions in capital Moscow for the first time in months amid a record surge in coronavirus fatalities and new cases. Russia’s state coronavirus task force Tuesday reported 1,015 coronavirus deaths and 33,740 new infections over the past 24 hours. The country’s coronavirus death toll of 225,325 is now the highest in Europe and daily fatalities first breached the 1,000 mark over the weekend when just 31% of the country’s population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said people who are above the age of 60 and not vaccinated will work from October 25 to February 25, news agency AFP reported.

A home-working quota has also been reintroduced and mandatory vaccinations extended for service workers. 

Despite daily infections nearly quadrupling from about 1,100 in early September to about 4,000 in the first week of October in Moscow alone, authorities remained reluctant to impose strict restrictions to curb the spread of the latest outbreak.  With a total of 8 million infections, Russia is the fifth-worst affected country in terms of pandemic deaths following the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

In fact, earlier this month, authorities drew criticism for shutting down the biggest vaccination centre in Moscow. The vaccination centre in Gostiny Dvor, a huge exhibition space, was closed on October 4  to host “cultural events.” The closure came as Russia reported 895 new fatalities and 25,110 new cases of coronavirus on October 4.  

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St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, Monday, ordered digital codes proving vaccination or recovery from infection for access to conferences and sports events from November 1. The codes have also been made mandatory for attending movies, theaters, museums and gyms starting November 15 and at restaurants, cafes and some stores from December 1.

St. Petersburg reported the nation’s second-largest number of new infections after Moscow. 

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Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has blamed the “behaviour” of Russians for the surge, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov held the “main cause” behind the record deaths in first week of October as “insufficient level of vaccination.”

“The virus is becoming angrier, and the level of vaccination is insufficient. And as a rule, those who haven’t been vaccinated get seriously ill and, unfortunately, die,” Peskov told reporters on October 5.