"Resort" coronavirus attack: why Crimea can be closed from tourists

Irina Mishina

On the peninsula, two anti-records were recorded at once: 2,767 cases of coronavirus infection per week and 404 cases of confirmed coronavirus per day. If the situation with the coronavirus in Crimea goes over the catastrophic mark, the tourist season will have to be closed, said the head of the republic Sergey Akyonov.

“You can close everything and not fool your head, not explain anything to anyone. The situation is on the brink. We need to look for compromises that, first of all, will allow us not to lose people. The priority is the life and health of citizens, ”said the head of the republic.

Sudak and Feodosia became anti-leaders in terms of morbidity. At a meeting of the operational headquarters on the situation with COVID-19, the head of the regional department of Rospotrebnadzor Natalya Penkovskaya cited other frightening facts: “In general, in the Republic of Crimea, the incidence is 31% higher than the epidemic threshold, and 79% in Simferopol is nonsense for this period of the year, - said Penkovskaya. - The leading role in the circulation of the virus is occupied by the Indian strain "Delta".

“I'm in Crimea now. I think that the surge in the incidence is only in the tourist areas. My personal experience points to crowding as the root cause”, - Andrey Fyodorov writes on Facebook.

An unprecedented influx of tourists began to provoke conflicts with local residents. Among the reviews of tourists there are such.

Anna Savelyeva: "I am a person who saves money for vacation and honestly works for a whole year. And vacation at the Crimean resort does not leave the most pleasant impressions. Unjustifiably high prices, the service is lame on both legs and a separate topic is the attitude of the local population. the impression that everyone is working under the motto "No one is holding you forcibly", and it does not matter that vacationers provide a normal existence for a whole year".

At the women's forum in the section “Crimea-2021. All about rest "one of the last posted reviews looks like this: "We returned from the Crimea. Were there for the first time. My conclusions from this trip: If I go to Crimea, just not in season. The sea is wonderful there, but when on the beach there is nowhere to sit or even get up, it spoils everything. I regularly rest in our south, but I have never seen such a "miracle" ... I have never seen so much rudeness. Fair. And out of the blue. Prices are tin. For a walk in the Aivazovskoye park, 1200 rubles, the Crimea park in miniature - 800 rubles (it is small, if anything, for half an hour of festivities) - for a family of 4 people it turns out to be a healthy sum. Watermelon - 800 rubles (I bought it at home yesterday for 230). Wine, canteens - everything is expensive. I know how to drive economically, but in Crimea it is impossible... For the first time in my life I regret the money spent on vacation".

Local residents, in turn, respond to tourists with angry rebuffs.

“Now I read in social networks the screams of those who did not get to Turkey, they say, they closed the air service, and I will have to go to the Crimea, where the service is expensive and expensive ... I’ll say it harshly, but from the bottom of my heart and for many Crimeans: don’t come! Do you really think that we are all glad and waiting for you? No, not happy. Most Crimeans do not care if five million or seven of you will come to rest. Most of the Crimean residents are far from the resort business. Don't come! My children and I want to relax on clean beaches and swim in the clear sea”, - writes Alexander Y. on Facebook.

“Exhortations won't help, close Crimea! Let us stay hungry, but at least alive”, - wrote Olga C.

The average load of operating accommodation facilities today in Crimea is already approaching 90%. In some regions of the peninsula, this figure exceeds 95%. According to the results of the first half of the year, the flow of tourists to Crimea increased by 49% compared to the same period in 2019 - up to 3 million 289.2 thousand tourists. At the same time, the peninsula receives tourists according to more than democratic rules - much freer than, for example, in the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory. According to vacationers, now you can fly to Crimea safely if it is an internal flight: no one asks for a certificate, they don’t put them in the observatory, they don’t even ask to put on a mask. “Take a mask, gloves and an antiseptic with you, put on a mask in public places. The temperature is measured with a thermal imager at the entrance to the airport, - tourists report. - In hotels and cafes, staff wear masks and gloves, but almost all tourists and residents of the city do not. It is recommended to keep a distance on the beaches, but this rule, of course, is ignored by everyone”, - says Renata Mukminova.

andrs: "Yesterday we flew to Crimea and stayed at a hotel in Yalta. There are no checks at the Simferopol airport. When transferring to the hotel, we asked the passengers sitting in front to wear muzzles, just in case. The hotel staff in muzzles and gloves. Guests are not required to do this. Fill out a questionnaire. that recently they have not been abroad, that they have not been sick with this infection and have not communicated with patients. Plus they measured their temperature. That's it, no problem".

We decided to inquire about the antiquated measures taken by the government of the Republic of Crimea. A spokesman for the press service said:

“According to the latest decrees of the leadership of the Republic, after 11 pm bars, restaurants, entertainment establishments do not work. Mask mode is respected, but not everywhere. We have 400 sick people almost every day. The decision to close the resort, if this happens, will be taken by the Office of Rospotrebnadzor in the Republic of Crimea and the head of the Republic. As for the sick, there are many of them. Today the Ministry of Health of Crimea has decided to deploy additional beds”.

In what case will Crimea be closed for tourists? We asked this question at the Coronavirus Operational Headquarters, headed by Tatiana Golikova. And we were surprised to learn that the federal structure has absolutely nothing to do with this. “In accordance with the presidential decree, the regions are independently taking the necessary measures in the fight against coronavirus infection”, - Anastasia Astashkina, assistant to the head of the Operations Center , told Novye Izvestia.

The closure of the Crimean direction, as we found out, even with all the desire of the local authorities, is unlikely to happen.

“Crimea cannot be closed for tourists. After all, there is an article of the Constitution that guarantees the citizens of Russia the right to free movement and movement. To close Crimea, a presidential decree is needed. In the event of an increase in morbidity, it is possible to strengthen restrictive measures. Some regions have already started to introduce them. For example, in the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory, entry and accommodation at the hotel is possible only for vaccinated tourists or in the presence of a negative PCR with the condition of vaccination within three days. In Kamchatka, there was an increase in the incidence of diseases, but severe restrictive measures were also introduced there. In Buryatia, the local authorities introduced a lockdown for 2 weeks, now it has been removed. In the event that the epidemiological situation deteriorates significantly, a negative PCR may be required upon arrival, the sequential introduction of other restrictions. The second level of restrictions is a ban on holding mass events. There can be no talk of closing tourism”, - Stanislav Solodkin, head of the press service of the Federal Agency for Tourism , told Novye Izvestia.

But even in the current critical situation, there is no question of toughening antiquarian measures in Crimea, oddly enough. Meanwhile, Crimean doctors are sounding the alarm: people get sick more often, get sick more severely, there are many deaths, there is a sorely lack of beds. Despite the number of people wishing to be vaccinated against coronavirus, the number of those who do not come for the second component has increased. The main reason for the increase in the incidence, according to the authorities, is the constant violation of the antiquity measures already in force both on the part of vacationers and on the part of entrepreneurs. “The situation is getting worse. Discipline is not respected. Unfortunately, in a number of municipalities, work continues in the evening - anarchy is complete. The work of the institutions until 23:00 is the responsibility of the heads of administrations, ”said the head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, at a meeting of the Operations Headquarters. But will the number of sick people really decrease if public institutions work, for example, until 20, and not until 23 o'clock?

Failure to comply with antiquated measures is only one side of the problem. Among the difficulties that both locals and tourists are talking about now are the lack of beds in hospitals, an insufficient number of doctors, and weak restrictive measures at the entrance. "Everyone goes without PCR and vaccinations - that's the problem..." - notes Elena P.

By and large, the reason for the misfortunes that befell Crimea is the unpreparedness of the infrastructure to receive such an unprecedented number of tourists. The influx of tourists due to the closure of a number of foreign destinations is, of course, a problem. But what did the federal and local authorities think about when promoting the Crimean direction? Wouldn't it be more logical to prepare a normal infrastructure, think over restrictive measures following the example of the Krasnodar Territory, before selling so many tours to Crimea? But replenishing the budget at any cost, as usual, turned out to be more important.