Coronavirus Public Holiday
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin has announced a "non-working" week in the Russian capital, with non-essential workers told to stay home, as Covid-19 cases hit a six-month high.
Together with the weekends and a public holiday on June 14th 2021, it means most Moscow workers will not return to their offices until June 20th.
"During the past week the situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection has sharply deteriorated," Sobyanin said on his website as the city registered 6,701 daily infections, the highest number since December last year.
Sobyanin added that "thousands" of hospital beds have been repurposed for coronavirus patients.
"We cannot not react to such a situation," he said. "To stop the growth of infections and to save people's lives, today I signed a decree providing for non-working days between June 15-19."
The order affects all employees in the Russian capital, a city of 12 million, except for essential workers.
Non-essential workers are not required to work from home during the period, but will still retain their salaries.
