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[외신]Putin’s handling of the pandemic has led to the lowest ratings of his presidency, which could undermine his power
According to state media, Russia has been more successful in beating COVID-19 than almost any other country in the world.
Russia accounts for the third highest level of corona virus infections in the world.
While Russian officials announced lower death rates relative to the number of infection.
In contradiction, leading doctors claim the official figures are lies and that they are manipulating the data.
Some compare the handling of the pandemic to that of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which marked the fall of the soviet union.
Putin’s handling of the pandemic has led to the lowest ratings of his presidency, which could undermind his power
Some footage show how overstretched health services have become.
A group of doctors decided to put together a memory list.
It is a compilation of the names of medical works who have died in the front lines treating the COVID-19 virus.
The list shows the absence of reliable statistics, as the name of those who died are not reported in official figures because they are not properly recorded.
They tend to have died "mysteriously" from pneumonia.
The Spokesperson of the memory list insists on the importance of transparency when handling the current pandemic.
Using the memory list data, local journalist found the death rate to be 16 times higher than in other countries with similar infection rate.
This is the main indicator that the official figures do not reflect the scale of the problem.
In the early days of the pandemic, Putin didn’t announce a nationwide lock-down, but declared paid non working day.
Which people took as paid vacation. He left it to local authorities to impose restrictions.
He distanced himself from the restrictions as it could affect his ratings.
The issue being that regional leaders were keen to show that they had the situation under control and therefore reported lower infection rates to the Kremlin.
It is reasonable to believe the Kremlin doesn’t know the real figures which would lead to wrong policy decisions.
This situation reminds some observers of Chernobyl , as locals tried covering their backs not reporting the actual gravity of the situation.
It is believed that either now or then, do Russian authorities have the right data to make the best decision for their people.
While Putin's popularity rates are low because of his handling of the pandemic, the stacks are high as he will hold a vote in July for a new constitution, which would allow him if passed, to remain in power until he dies.
[GEN News -Editor ]
Ms. Camellia Sodki
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