Welcome virus! Why Russia did not close air links with India

Despite the fact that in Russia the share of the Indian strain has increased to 90%, the government is in no hurry to close air traffic with this country.

Irina Mishina

"Delta plus", according to scientists, differs from the previous strain in a higher spreading rate and the ability to more damage lung cells. When infected with delta plus, their function decreases much faster than at the beginning of 2020.

“The patient is admitted to the hospital with CT-2, tomorrow he has CT-3, and the day after tomorrow he is in intensive care”, - said Ancha Baranova, doctor of biological sciences, professor of biology at George Mason University (Virginia, USA).

From the point of view of molecular biology, in the near future, scientists will not be able to substantiate the lethal signs of the delta plus strain due to the impossibility of rapid research. “Perhaps in six months we will find out exactly what is happening”, - Baranova added. Scientists also admit that the new strain can overcome the protection created by antibodies in those who have been ill and vaccinated.

Those areas of India where this strain of coronavirus was detected have already been closed for visiting and leaving their residents.

Meanwhile, the deadly Indian strain continues to spread in Russia. "The latest data that we received: 89.3% of patients fell ill with a mutated coronavirus, the so-called delta, this is an Indian strain", - said Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

“We are introducing new hospitals almost every day, new buildings in the fight against COVID-19 and we barely have time”, - the mayor complained.

Over the past two days, the increase in deaths associated with coronavirus was 14%. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova had to admit this. According to her, the increase in mortality is associated, among other things, with the untimely appeal of citizens for medical help in case of illness. However, there is one more factor that we decided to pay attention to. This is an air connection with the country from which the danger actually emanates - with India.

The Indian strain of the coronavirus has been registered in 92 countries to date. As you know, air traffic with this country has already been closed by France, Canada, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. Australia has cut flights to this country by a third. And Great Britain not only put India on the "red list" of high-risk countries, but also threatened everyone who hid the fact of visiting this country with imprisonment . Not only travelers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been banned by Oman's High Committee from entering their country - the ban will also apply to tourists who transited through any of these three South Asian countries in 14 days. And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga canceled scheduled visits to India due to the coronavirus situation.

Which countries to open is decided by the Operational Headquarters for Combating Coronavirus and the Government of Russia, and this order 635-r is regulated, which is amended. Now there are 29 countries on the list "open" for Russia, but only 16 of them are available to tourists: Egypt, Maldives, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Serbia, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Armenia, Greece, Venezuela. We decided to ask how Russia is doing with air traffic with India - the source of the most dangerous and deadly strains of coronavirus today. "NI" sent a request about this to the Russian Government. Here is a commentary by the Government's operational headquarters to prevent the importation and spread of a new coronavirus infection:

“At present, air traffic with India is represented by a small number of flights - only 2 flights a week on the Moscow-Delhi route. Air traffic was not suspended in order for Russian citizens to have the opportunity to return to their homeland. At the same time, Rospotrebnadzor promptly took all the necessary anti-epidemic measures: it strengthened sanitary and quarantine control in relation to flights arriving from Delhi with double remote thermometry, from April 28, at the arrival airport (Sheremetyevo), testing of all persons arriving from India was organized, including including the rapid ICA method for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, as well as instructions for all arriving arrivals to be isolated until a negative result for a new coronavirus infection is obtained. Air traffic with India did not affect the development of the epidemiological situation in Russia. The situation with the spread of COVID-19 is under the control of the operational headquarters".

The travel company "TUI" confirmed to us: "There are charter flights from India, they mainly fly to Russia from India with a transfer - for example, through Frankfurt or Amsterdam. But we do not sell tours to India now". Aeroflot also has direct flights with India.

In general, this situation seems more than strange. The death rate from the Indian strain is growing in the country, hospitals and doctors are "suffocating", unable to cope with the flow of patients, as the growth of infections has exceeded all the sad records of the "first wave" of covid. But if in March 2020 Russia was sent to a long lockdown, and the president spoke to the people almost every week and personally led the fight against the infection, now the situation looks absurd. The incidence is much higher than a year ago, people are being killed by new strains, medicine can barely cope, but there is no quarantine at all. Borders are open, resorts are open in Russia, air traffic with foreign countries is rapidly resuming. But why did Russia keep the border with India open for many months? So that a new strain of coronavirus flew from there?

“I think this is worse than a crime, it looks like some kind of systematic action, like the planned murder of people. In Moscow, the Indian strain "delta" kills thousands of sick people, and we carry hundreds of people from India to Russia. From January 1, 2019 to April 1, 2021, the number of pensioners in the country decreased by 1.276 million - this is a record value in the entire history of available statistics since 1998. Perhaps, by leaving the borders with India open, someone wants to get rid of the "surplus" of pensioners, which the pension reform has failed to cope with? On the other hand, the coronavirus is a lucrative business for someone. After all, vaccination and drugs are a redistribution of gigantic funds. The volume of vaccinations alone in the near future will provide contracts for 157 billion dollars. During the pandemic, 9 billionaires have been added to the Forbes list, and all of them are in one way or another related to pharmaceuticals”, - said biochemist and researcher of coronavirus treatment methods Veniamin Zaitsev to Novye Izvestia.

One way or another, the federal authorities, with the exception of relevant ministers, have actually withdrawn from the epidemic today. Regional authorities, which have been made responsible for the fight against covid, are doing their best. But the state has no clear strategy to combat the coronavirus. And this, unfortunately, is already obvious.