Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia

On 5 March, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov announced the cancellation of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum which was due to be held from 3 to 6 June 2020.

[1] On 11 March, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu cancelled the Moscow International Security Conference which had been scheduled for 22 to 23 April.

[11] On 29 March, the ROC's Patriarch Kirill delivered a sermon in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour that urged people to refrain from visiting church, citing the life of St. Mary of Egypt.

[16] Equivocation and occasionally contradictory instructions issued by the Moscow Patriarchate's top officials undermined the authority of the Church's leadership while restrictive measures caused opposition on the part of conservative circles of the ROC's congregation.

[19] While Patriarch Kirill presided over the Easter night service in Moscow's cathedral church with no laypeople in attendance, the ROC's most venerated St Trinity monastery in the Moscow region, which is under the Patriarch's direct spiritual authority, defied his directions by conducting Easter services as normal.

[28] Eleven members of the community were hospitalised, with four COVID-19 cases confirmed, the first one being a rabbi who felt sick after Purim celebration on 9 March.