Moscow residents to have paid leave to curb COVID-19 surge

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced on Saturday that workers in the Russian capital will have paid leave next week in a bid to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19, reported Xinhua.

Sobyanin said in his blog that he has signed a decree designating June 15-19 as non-working days with salaries staying intact, after the city saw a sharp increase in new COVID-19 infections.

The mayor said the paid leave applies to enterprises and organizations of all forms of ownership, except for critically important industries.

As Saturday to Monday are Russia Day holidays, the "long weekend" in Moscow will last a total of nine days from June 12 to 20, during which catering and entertainment facilities are ordered to be closed from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The city government recommended that employers allow at least 30 percent of their staff to work from home starting from Sunday.

Russia has registered 13,510 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the highest daily spike since Feb. 15, bringing the national tally to 5,193,964, official data showed on Saturday.

The daily count has been increasing significantly since June 2 as there are more social gatherings in early summer.

Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, on Saturday reported 6,701 new cases, the biggest daily increase since Dec. 26, taking the city's total to 1,227,013.