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Russian Region Plans Tracking Bracelets for Coronavirus Victims

Russian Region Plans Tracking Bracelets for Coronavirus Victims

(Bloomberg) -- Murmansk is considering using electronic tracking bracelets for people diagnosed with coronavirus in an example of how remote Russian territories are struggling to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The northwestern region, which borders Norway and Finland, authorized the purchase of monitoring equipment to make sure that coronavirus patients obey quarantine, according to the document on the regional government website. The bracelets will be voluntary, the Murmansk government’s press service said, confirming the decree.

Russian Region Plans Tracking Bracelets for Coronavirus Victims

Murmansk is turning to the tracking systems as its medical system risks being overwhelmed by the virus. With 268 cases on Tuesday, it ranks seventh among Russia’s 85 regions even though it is 63rd by population.

President Vladimir Putin said at a teleconference with his top health officials Monday that the situation throughout Russia was deteriorating. He called for mobilizing medical students to help relieve overwhelmed health workers and ordered a centralized procurement system to eliminate shortages of protective gear.

The epicenter of the Murmansk outbreak is Belokamenka, which has over 200 cases, Governor Andrey Chibis said in an Instagram post. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry airlifted a field hospital and 130 doctors this week to the town, which builds infrastructure for Novatek PJSC’s offshore liquefied natural gas facilities.

Chibis has already implemented one of the harshest set of restrictions in Russia in an attempt to stem the outbreak. Several industrial towns were declared special zones that are closed to outsiders. Monchegorsk, a town where MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC has a plant, also restricts who can leave.

Critics say many of the restrictions on movement around Russia are unconstitutional. On Wednesday, Moscow began requiring a digital permission slip to move around the city, creating long lines of commuters at subway stations waiting for police to check their passes.

“Now it’s not just a digital concentration camp, but a real one,” opposition leader Alexey Navalny tweeted Wednesday of Murmansk’s plans. “I had something similar when I was under house arrest. The next step is a ring around your neck that will blow your head off if you leave the perimeter.”

The tighter restrictions around Russia have failed to stem the spread of coronavirus to date, with the total number of cases doubling over the last five days to 24,490.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.