Officials massively fail coronavirus tests

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

For two months of the epidemic in Russia, they learned to massively and quickly test for a new infection. But even earlier, the epidemic itself turned into a harsh and merciless test for everyone. A total check in which the sample is all 147 million inhabitants of the largest country in the world. Testing has reached every home and, more importantly, every office. It will take a long time to study its results, and you can do it individually, no one could sit on the sidelines. Now we will evaluate with "large strokes" who passed the test and who failed the exam.

The President Gives It To Steer

The unique situation with the pandemic has brought with it a unique management scheme. We are accustomed for all the 2000s that if there is a problem and a problem, then the president is in manual control. The rest are nothing more than extras. And this happened, perhaps, not because the head of state so wanted, but because he did not see who could be trusted.

But this year is really a turning point. It is even possible that, knowing like no one else, the president, initiating constitutional reforms and a change of government, took into account the impending pandemic. Realizing all the flaws of the previous team, he made a change in government on the eve of the appearance of the "black swan".

The new government, more precisely, the new prime minister and the partially renewed team, within a very short time, found themselves at the forefront of the battle against the epidemic. In fact - without swinging, without the possibility of settling in the chairs more tightly, they went for a check in battle.

And the president is not covering everyone this time. He is a national leader, he speaks with the people and formulates the main strategic objectives, defines the framework and key measures. But they must be implemented by the executive branch - the government and the governors. Both those and others received powers.

Vladimir Putin, of course, is ready to intervene at any time in any problem - whether it is payments to doctors or neutralizing an outbreak of infection in a particular region. But at the same time, he gives the opportunity to prove himself to everyone - and reveals all the weak points, weak links in the management system.

Government of popular doubt

Many people are now wondering what assessment the president will give to his new prime minister based on the results of the epidemic. Among political scientists and experts, the most diverse opinions were seething - especially taking into account the "order" factor (too often, waves of arrivals and counter-arrivals swept back and forth in telegram channels). A commonplace in the first days and weeks of the new government's work was the recognition of its temporary, "technical" nature. They tried to present Mishustin as something like a lightning rod, heating the place for a "real successor."

But soon many agreed that

speculation about the technical role of today's government in Russia is collapsing. Mishustin's team, with rare exceptions, turned out to be, perhaps, the most efficient in modern Russia - for the first time there is no desire to dismiss him (the government), and members of the cabinet (again, with rare exceptions) on trial … Minimum hypertrophied political ambitions, maximum executive will and disciplines took Mishustin beyond the boundaries of a technical role, made him a real subject of decision-making in Russia.

There is no general and unified assessment of Mishustin's government and his work in an epidemic. It should be so. The current composition of the government is assembled quickly from old and new people, it can be considered preliminary. Now it is not so much the government as an integral mechanism that is being tested - such is only in its infancy. All elements of the cabinet pass the stress test. Personally. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate everyone involved.

The old guard and the virus does not take

If you look for impeccability in the current government, then she probably has two names - Lavrov and Shoigu. The evacuation of tourists was not without problems, but the scale and speed of the work left an indelible impression, especially given the fact that Russian citizens mostly travel abroad on their own and communicate with embassies and consulates only when a problem occurs. But - they collected, helped. As of May 30, as Kommersantso writes with reference to the Foreign Ministry, over 241 thousand people returned to Russia and more than 21 thousand received financial support.

On the joint account of the diplomats and the military - prompt and effective assistance to Italy and other countries, the delivery of medicines and equipment. On the whole, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has remained a rock in the face of its owner.

The President also appreciated the work of military specialists:

I would like to note the professional work of the personnel of the Armed Forces. Military doctors, units of the Ministry of Defense, who provided assistance to citizens of Italy, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a number of other countries in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, showed themselves at their best.

In general, the epidemic confirmed what, in general, everyone already knows: Shoigu changed the Russian army. The list can be endless - and new weapons, and new military bases, just completely different everything. They spoke in detail about this on the day of the 65th anniversary of the minister.

But I would like to say separately about the military builders. The story of the rapid construction of 16 hospitals in any other structure would have been submitted to such fanfare … For months, they would have been proud of their successes, received letters of honor and gratitude. And the military did everything somehow … casually, or something. The minister said that by May 15, he would launch 16 new medical centers, and on the 15th, he reported that everything was done. And there was no respite - we immediately went to build additional medical centers in Dagestan, to deploy field hospitals where necessary. At the same time, they do not forget about other tasks, for example, by May, in less than a year, they built a new terminal at the Petrozavodsk airport.

In the regions, they are always praying for military builders and at the same time they are afraid. They pray because if they said that in a year there will be, for example, a new and modern cadet school, then in a year the line of the first students will pass there. And they are afraid because they are demanding both of themselves and of the local authorities. It is impossible to delay anything with them, it is pointless to talk about any circumstances. They come, build and make everyone work.

Sweep candidates

The most important part of the work, of course, was entrusted to the social block. And the main figure here is Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, whose chances are assessed very differently. On the one hand, she is constantly in the frame reporting to the president on the progress of the fight against the virus. But on the other hand, it is this public activity over the head of his immediate boss - the prime minister - that causes understandable irritation. Experts wonder why the "chief social worker" Golikova actually shifted most of the responsibility onto Murashko and Popova, and conceded the rest to Sobyanin.

At the same time, as already mentioned, Mishustin, while still undergoing treatment for COVID-19, personally dealt with the problem of incentive payments to doctors who are fighting the coronavirus.

After Vladimir Putin expressed harsh assessments of the situation with the payment of presidential allowances to medical workers in contact with coronavirus patients, and called the payment procedure a "gimp", Mikhail Mishustin, while still in the hospital, personally intervened in the situation.

- sources in the government told Interfax.

Of course, no one has forgotten that it is Deputy Prime Minister Golikova who is somehow responsible for the "optimization" of Russian healthcare, which has led to a catastrophic reduction in the number of doctors and medical personnel, and medical institutions. We wrote about this in detail here. Recently, "Madame Arbidol" has repeatedly resented the results of the "reform" of Russian healthcare, but they still remember who is responsible for this collapse. And after the epidemic, it is quite possible that they will remember.

The new Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov can be considered another coroner with almost certainty.

On June 2, Mikhail Mishustin presented to Vladimir Putin a plan for the restoration of the Russian economy.

A month earlier, the Russian president expelled Reshetnikov from the working group of the presidential Council for strategic development and national projects. Earlier, during a meeting on the implementation of measures taken to support the economy and social sphere in the context of the coronavirus, Putin criticized Reshetnikov after his unsuccessful speech.

Much of what I have just heard is a list of decisions that have been made earlier. You said something about how these solutions work, and that's it. I would ask you to take a closer look inside: how these decisions are implemented, how much money was issued, to whom. It is necessary to structure all this information in order to own, to own the situation live simply,

- Putin laid siege to the minister.

Some experts suggest that Mishustin's plan was invented, shall we say, without the decisive participation of the former Perm governor. It should be added that the prime minister himself also expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the economic minister in connection with the process of issuing concessional loans to business. As they wrote, this task was in fact failed.

Helpless emergency in Moscow

Minister Reshetnikov is considered a man of the team of Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, who in all previous years has been hailed as the absolute ideal of a regional leader. “We need our own Sobyanin,” such phrases could often be heard in the regions during the election of governors.

Meanwhile, the activities of Sergei Sobyanin as the head of the city, which has become the epicenter of the epidemic, raises a lot of questions. It's not even about how effective the decisions he made were. The question is that the head of Moscow saw a chance in the epidemic. A chance to become the second person in the state. For this, the Moscow mayor needed the most stringent quarantine in the capital. Then he could show that no one copes better than him. And if he coped with Moscow, he will also cope with the country. In a word, it was Sobyanin who for these two months was called the leader of the "emergency party", which advocated the maximum tightening of quarantine measures.

For a time he was even favored. Repeatedly situations arose when the mayor acted not only over the head of the head of the government - this has generally become in the order of things, but also allowed himself to run ahead of the head of state. This was the case with Sobyanin's memorable decree on the beginning of self-isolation in Moscow, which was published before the promulgation of Putin's position. But there is reason to believe that in two months Sobyanin, broadcasting from each iron, who once again contradicts or even refutes the federal government, tired the country's leadership.

He tired his townspeople too. The glitchy application "Social Monitoring", thousands of fines for any reason, digital passes and a crush on the metro in the first days of their introduction caused just a flurry of anger and a storm of sarcasm from the residents of the capital.

The last straw was the "scheduled walks" introduced the other day. The decision itself could have been justified as a gradual easing of quarantine measures - but the documents of title and the comments of officials turned out to be so ridiculous and absurd, and simply stupid, that they caused Muscovites almost more fury than all previous restrictive measures.

They are beginning to unearth how and in whose interests the money was burned in the fire of the fight against the "crown". "Self-isolation" in Moscow is already called a black financial hole. In particular, they are discussing an amazing fact - back in March, the Moscow government acquired the largest manufacturer of medical masks in Russia, OOO KIT, which produces more than a third of all masks in the country.

In general, the future of the owner of the capital following the epidemic raises many questions. Someone (perhaps not even by order) continues to talk about his imminent premier (or even more) future. Someone thinks that Moscow with such sentiments of Muscovites will be difficult to keep from political chaos.

As for the Muscovites, they are no longer protesting, they simply hammered into the instructions of the local authorities, which these authorities themselves cannot clearly decipher.

On May 27, Sergei Sobyanin, during an online meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that starting June 1, Moscow residents will have the opportunity to walk on schedule for the first time in two months. Muscovites laughed and already on the 28th went out for a walk with all the capital's indifference to the severity of the city authorities. Courtyards, playgrounds, sidewalks and parks were full of pedestrians. The people rested in the squares, sunbathed on the banks of the Moskva River, played sports on the grounds. Children, pensioners - everyone walked.

Well, they couldn't …

What about the rest of the regions? There is no doubt that another wave of resignations awaits us (like that quick clean-up of the most problematic governors of the Arkhangelsk region, Kamchatka and Komi, which happened at the beginning of the pandemic). It is likely that this will happen immediately after the first wave of the epidemic is over, and the second has not yet arrived. For example, in September and early October, after a single voting day.

Our governors and heads of republics are different - from young technocrats to the old guard of different eras. But whatever they were, most of them showed very dubious abilities for independent work.

Namely, such a test was offered to all regional leaders by the head of state. In fact, he gave them what they had been asking for so long - the freedom to make decisions and govern their territory. So we got it.

True, when the regionals asked for this freedom, they meant more and more about money, so that more taxes could be left in the localities. And they got the freedom to make decisions and be responsible for them. The President determined that it was on the ground that they were supposed to decide which quarantine measures to introduce and how. For many regionals, this was a real shock. They simply do not know how to work "without instruction"; they lack energy, determination, and readiness to take responsibility for their decisions to work in emergency conditions.

In principle, now it would be possible to change almost half of them. But, of course, there will be no total cleansing, the worst of the worst will be chosen.

And the first on the list is the head of the second capital, St. Petersburg Mayor Alexander Beglov. It has already been written in detail about it. Since then, little has changed. Recently, the well-known Telegram channel "Mediatekhnolog" erupted in criticism of the governor's press service - they say, it is not coping and spoils the image of its patron. Alas, there are diseases that modern medicine is powerless against, there are governors that no press service is able to cope with …

In April, at a meeting of the Coordination Council, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin expressed dissatisfaction with the governor's corps, which, in his opinion, was too formal about the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. Not long before that, Vladimir Putin drew the governors' attention not only to their new powers in the fight against coronavirus, but also to their personal responsibility for poor work with the population.

Omsk, Belgorod, Orel, Penza, Ivanovsk, Novgorod and Tver regions, Stavropol and Altai Territories, as well as the Republic of Tyva were named as outsiders at the Coordination Council.

The Saratov region, Krasnodar region, Khakassia, Tomsk region and Bashkortostan can be added to the named regions. The governors of these regions during April either made organizational disruptions in the process of issuing passes, or were noted with verbal blunders.

In the first days of the official quarantine, April 2-3, the governors of the Saratov Region and Krasnodar Territory, Valery Radaev and Veniamin Kondratyev, became widely famous. In both regions, a stampede was organized into the district administrations to obtain passes for movement by transport.

On April 20-21, the Governor of the Rostov Region Vasily Golubev noted the same. In Rostov-on-Don, the decision to issue passes for movement around the city directly "in the hands" also led to huge queues. An online protest against the self-isolation regime began immediately on the banks of the Don. The virtual protest was picked up in other cities: Samara, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg.

In Mordovia, Governor Vladimir Volkov, against the backdrop of an epidemic, allowed an insane rise in prices for food and personal protective equipment. Sugar rose in price, the notorious lemons and ginger rose in price to 300 and 4,200 rubles, respectively, and medical masks were sold at 70 rubles each.

In the Stavropol Territory, residents of Pyatigorsk accused Governor Vladimir Vladimirov of urgently building up the reserved Mount Mashuk under the guise of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, the townspeople interfered with the plans of the governor to build a year-round "Mashuk" Youth Multifunctional Patriotic Center "on the mountainside, on reserved lands." They feared that the foundations of buildings and communications would cut the mineral springs existing on the mountain.

In Pyatigorsk, the strictest quarantine was declared, citizens were locked in their homes, and construction equipment arrived unhindered on the mountain.

The Stavropol governor again became a hero of discussions after his report on the results of his work before the regional deputies. He chose not to notice even the most obvious problems in the economy and social sphere caused by the pandemic. In health care, according to Vladimirov, everything is perfect or close to that - and paramedic stations are being built, and mortality from chronic diseases is falling.

And this despite the fact that he was recently reprimanded by Mishustin for the lack of intensive care beds, and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation pretended to be worn out and lack of ambulances in the Stavropol Territory.

The regional economy, according to Vladimirov, "the epidemic did not cause critical damage" (the loss of the regional budget is 20 billion rubles so far, the construction of 11 social facilities due to sequestration will have to be postponed for at least a year). Vladimirov even instructed to ensure the growth of the regional economy this year by 2%! The whole country is preparing for an economic downturn, and the Stavropol region will bloom.

The whole country knows about the problems of Dagestan with the outbreak of infection - the president himself undertook to solve them. You can add to the endless list of chapters and the head of Karachay-Cherkessia Rashid Temrezov. Ambulance doctors revolted in the republic due to a shortage of protective equipment and problems with payments. The Investigative Committee has moved to the republic.

But the heads will still be counted according to the Hamburg score - they need to end the epidemic, hold all the events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Victory, and ensure a vote on the amendment of the Constitution on July 1. And on the totality of everything, they will pass sentences and gratitude - to whom as.

Opposition nullified

As you know, we have two oppositions in our country - one systemic, the other non-systemic. The first tends to zero, the second has been continuously multiplied by this zero for a long time.

I don't want to talk about "system" for a long time. Sergei Mironov, who simply announced the suspension of the activities of A Just Russia, became a symbol of "the increasing role of parties by zeroing it out" (it would have been something to stop, the ill-wishers sneered). LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, as in all other cases, used coronavirus time for shocking statements and shaking the air - however, he has long been perceived simply as "information noise".

As for Gennady Zyuganov, he was stormy: he criticized the authorities for restrictions, since this is an infringement of the rights of the opposition, then he immediately spoke about the insufficient efforts of the authorities to fight. He managed to remember God and think about the economy. In the conditions when the president canceled the events of May 9, which are extremely important for the whole country, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Victory, Zyuganov did not cancel anything and himself took a demonstrative part in the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin.

As for the non-systemic opposition, the coronavirus seemingly opened all the doors for it. Numerous mistakes made by the authorities, falling living standards, a sharp increase in psychological fatigue and protest moods - all this provided our fighters for "the wonderful Russia of Navalny's future" a sea of opportunities. Come on, spread your propaganda on the internet, throw in ideas, connect people. But there was a loud sound: zilch, in general. The Hop-opposition has shown that it can do nothing but hype - and it can also create it very sickly. Here is Navalny - he heroically ran into the "servant of power" Elena Malysheva and her overseas property. I got my finger into one of the layouts of Elena Malysheva, which she so loves to show in her programs: Malysheva is perceived as a freak, a vulgar clown, anyone, just not as the face of a bloody regime.

How Russians did not abandon each other in trouble

Coronatest, as has been said, is unique in that it touched everyone. Everyone has been tested. I am sure that novels and series about how people passed this test await Russian literature and cinema. And not only Russian, of course, in a couple of years "Oscar" will receive some kind of epic about the epidemic and the Americans.

The people of Russia have shown that a common misfortune and problem is a special, but in general, a natural state of the life of our people. It catalyzes the best qualities. People are ready to help each other. Doctors and nurses once again demonstrated their readiness to fight to the last, live in a hospital for 45 days, go to the enemy without weapons and protection, which, as usual, "did not give a lift."

The latter is also a tradition. The song "Help" with its eternal lines: "It's a pity, help did not come, no reinforcements were sent, there are only two of us left, you and I are … all the brothers died, and it's tense with cartridges, but we hold the lines, we fight bravely" was and will remain the eternal anthem of our front line.

Nobody is surprised. Yes, Shoigu made our army efficient and technologically advanced, but we still look at it as an incident, as something unusual for us. After all, we know that "a bullet is a fool, a bayonet is a fine fellow," and the most terrible troops for the enemy are a construction battalion with sapper blades.

In the era of the coronavirus, it turned out that, as in the previous hundreds of years, we still have the formulas: "If you can't, but you really want to, then you can" and "The severity of Russian laws is mitigated by the non-binding nature of their implementation." Perhaps, in those situations where severity takes on an idiotic character, only they are able to protect us.

Having received idiotic bans from regional bosses, people, as a rule, did not go to the square to be indignant. People went to parks that are kind of closed, but where everyone walks. Beauty salons and other service organizations are closed, but through Avito everyone can be invited home. Before the epidemic, a pensioner came to the author once a week to do a general cleaning. As a conscientious person, I canceled her visits for the duration of the quarantine. In the midst of the epidemic, I called her on the phone - she says that, as before, she works, only I refused, she goes to clean the rest of the houses and apartments every week. Traffic on the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities, according to subjective feelings, fully recovered in May. At all the announcements about the extension of quarantine measures, people shook their heads and … took up their own lives. Thank God that for the most part "our people" also work in the police. Of course, there are cases of detentions and fines, but we know about them more likely because they are an exception to the general tacit agreement: we are not in quarantine, we are pretending to be in quarantine.

The authorities can report to the top about the measures taken, and people will continue to do their business, but only quietly, without bulging. After all, an integral part of any Russian fence is a hole in the fence through which you can seep, and a watchman with whom you can negotiate.

It is good that the balance is maintained - while brushing off idiocy, our people did not fall into idiocy themselves: practically nowhere in Russia did the local authorities play the Belarusian version. However, frivolity, illiteracy and mistrust of the authorities played a cruel joke on the residents of Vladikavkaz (who staged an "anti-quarantine" rally) and Dagestanis, who completely neglected the quarantine requirements.

So, in general, the coronavirus test, if it proved anything with all certainty, is the correctness of Vladimir Putin's words: "Russia is a separate civilization."