Press Release, 03.02.2023

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The Russian consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor demanded a ban on public events in St. Petersburg due to the threat of the spread of not only COVID-19, but also cholera and plague. To date, however, not a single case of such contamination has been identified. This follows from the response of Natalia Bashketova, head of the St. Petersburg department of Rospotrebnadzor, to the  inquiry of Alexander Shishlov, head of the Yabloko faction in the St.Peterburg Legislative Assembly.

“For the period from 2021 to 2022, no cases of the diseases (deaths) or cases of suspected cholera and plague were registered in St. Petersburg,” Bashketova wrote in her response.

The Yabloko faction repeatedly appealed to the St.Peterburg department of Rospotrebnadzor with a proposal to lift the ban on holding public events, including, in the summer of 2022, when the incidence of COVID-19 fell by five times. However, then Natalia Bashketova responded to the Yabloko faction’s inquiry that the reason for the restrictions on rallies was not only the new coronavirus infection, but also the danger of the spread of plague and cholera. Bans on public events, among other things, were a measure to prevent the spread of such diseases.

The new response from the agency once again states that the ongoing epidemiological bans on public events “are reasonable preventive measures” and “contribute to countering the spread of both COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.”

“Apparently, any public events initiated by citizens, even single pickets, are more dangerous than plague and cholera for the city authorities,” Boris Vishnevsky, deputy head of the Yabloko faction, says.

The authorities began lifting epidemiological restrictions across Russia from last summer. At the same time, each region independently decided which specific measures should be cancelled and which should be maintained. The ban on rallies was lifted almost immediately in Tatarstan and Krasnodar. At the end of 2022, the authorities of the Leningrad region which is neighbouring to St. Petersburg, allowed to hold political events, which had been limited due to the terrorist threat. They considered the ban on rallies excessive.

ALEXANDER SHISHLOV

is head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, a member of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party, and Chairman of the Yabloko branch in St.Petersburg

BORIS VISHNEVSKY

is Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party, member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee and Bureau, and an MP of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg