Across former Soviet countries, lockdowns due to the coronavirus are hitting the poor hardest. The many workers in the gray areas of the economies have been left destitute and even homeless, while some charities that might provide help are closing down.
Without physical distancing, also known as social distancing, if one infected individual transmits the virus to an average of 2.5 people, and those 2.5 people each transmit to another 2.5 people and so on, within a month, 406 people would be infected.
Caretakers of public cemeteries in Dnipro, a city in southeastern Ukraine, have been ordered to dig 600 graves for potential coronavirus victims. Undertakers could be seen working on April 3. (Current Time)
As Russian President Vladimir Putin extended Russia’s COVID-19 lockdown until the end of the month, Moscow city officials on April 2 began to release a tracking app, Social Monitoring, that will allow them to determine whether coronavirus patients remain in self-isolation. Opposition and civil rights activists have denounced the technology for violating privacy rights. To date, Russia has reported 3,548 coronavirus cases and 30 deaths, the highest numbers in its region.
Kyrgyz migrant workers stranded at an airport in the Russian city of Novosibirsk resorted to desperate measures to highlight their struggle to get back home. About 200 Kyrgyz citizens had been camped out at Tolmachevo Airport since March 27, when both Kyrgyzstan and Russia canceled international flights in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some of them went on a hunger strike after being forced to sleep on hard floors and seating.
In Italy and other European countries with strong opera roots, singing solo from an apartment balcony has become a way to share hope and inspire courage amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In Italy's Lombardy region, the center of its coronavirus struggle, Tajjik opera student Shohrukh Yunusov is doing just that.
Professional soccer, schools, and restaurants are all continuing in Belarus, which has refused to impose the lockdowns or other restrictive measures seen elsewhere. Instead, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has played down the threat of the coronavirus, dismissing it as a "psychosis."
There were still some vehicles and pedestrians on the streets of Moscow after a lockdown came into effect on March 30 to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The city's 12 million residents are only allowed to leave their homes to buy food or medicines, get urgent medical treatment, walk the dog, or take out the trash.
One of the best protections against the coronavirus is also the simplest: washing your hands. Doctors advise soap, warm water, and a thorough scrubbing to get rid of potential infectious material.
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