COVID-19 Coronavirus: Russia, 100,000 cases, 1,000 deaths. Lockdown until 11 May. Catholic Bishops postpone family and youth meetings

The Skype meeting of the Bishops’ Conference of the Russian Federation, 4 bishops in total, lasted 55 minutes. “It is easier for small Bishops’ Conferences to gather”, Bishop Clemens Pickel of Saratov said on his blog. “We are slowly getting used to these modes”, Pickel wrote. It was a useful time to “exchange views on the current situation of the Catholic dioceses in Russia”, in the awareness that “we are still far from the peak of the coronavirus epidemic”. Seeing other countries easing restrictions “makes us impatient, but it would be dangerous for us at present”. Hence our decision to postpone by one year the national meeting of families and the national youth meeting that were scheduled to take place in summer 2020. According to the official figures given by the Russian media, as of today, there are 106,498 confirmed cases, 7,099 new infections in the past 24 hours, the highest one-day increase so far, and 1,073 deaths. Vladimir Putin extended the lockdown until 11 May while Moscow, where infections are spreading faster, is building temporary hospitals to increase to 10,000 its bed capacity to treat coronavirus patients.

Valentina Bombelli