There are a number of theories for why Russia appears to have gotten off relatively lightly from the coronavirus pandemic, so far. Some cite early border closures, others pure luck and a small fringe allege there’s a cover-up.
Meeting with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the country’s official data may not be wholly accurate. He noted that many cases had not been tested, and urged the president to take more robust measures to battle Covid-19.
“The momentum is high, and a serious situation is emerging,” he told Putin. “The fact is that the test coverage is very low, and nobody in the world knows the real picture.” According to Sobyanin, there are currently two people in critical condition.
As the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases skyrockets throughout the world, many Russians feel the numbers just don’t seem to add up on the home front. Even though the country has a far larger population than Italy, Germany, France, and Britain and despite a 4,200km border with China, Russia has only 495 cases, including 290 in Moscow. Meanwhile, the Italians alone have over 63,000.
