Russia’s Novgorod region becomes first to extend ‘non-working days’ due to COVID-19

Russia’s Novgorod region will extend its “non-working days” for an additional week, announced Governor Andrey Nikitin on Monday, November 1.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a paid “non-working week” from October 30 to November 7, against the backdrop of surging coronavirus cases. Several Russian regions, including Moscow opted to go into partial lockdown even earlier.

The Novgorod region began its non-working period on October 25; the partial lockdown will now remain in place until November 14. “We’re extending the period of non-working days by one week, with the preservation of wages,” Nikitin underscored on Monday.

The regional governor also added that from November 8–14, the Novgorod region “will tighten the requirements for the work of various types of organizations, and a number of organizations will be closed.” Cafes, stores, and other retail establishments that are ignoring QR code requirements will be shut down for the entire non-working period, Nikitin warned.

As noted by the state news agency TASS, the Novgorod region is the first region in Russia that has opted to extend the period of “non-working days.”

• On Monday, November 1, Russia confirmed more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases for the third day in a row. The Novgorod region registered 284 new infections on Monday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in the region since the start of the pandemic to 50,641.