Business appreciated the lifting of restrictions due to COVID-19

Rospotrebnadzor (RPN) canceled a number of restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. The decision of the chief sanitary doctor Anna Popova was published on the legal information portal.

In particular, the mandatory medical supervision of Chinese citizens or tourists returning from this country, the mandatory testing for COVID-19 of residents of the Amur Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Trans-Baikal Territories, as well as laboratory tests for COVID-19 for returned from Europe, citizens who applied to a medical facility with symptoms of a cold.

In addition, the enhanced disinfection regime in catering establishments and shops has been canceled.

The RPN lifted a significant part of the restrictions imposed in connection with COVID-19 back in July 2022. In particular, the mask regime and the ban on catering at night were canceled. On May 5, the World Health Organization declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vedomosti asked restaurateurs and virologists to assess the effectiveness and costs of anti-epidemiological restrictions in force in Russia since 2020.

Expensive investments due to epidemiological restrictions came at the beginning of the pandemic, when it was necessary to purchase bactericidal lamps, gloves, masks, Sergei Mironov, Ombudsman for the Moscow restaurant market and owner of the Meat & Fish chain, told Vedomosti. According to him, the situation has changed over the course of three years – gloves, masks and disinfectants became cheaper, then masks and gloves were canceled. In 2023, restaurateurs only paid for antiseptics and electricity for germicidal lamps, he emphasizes.

The restrictions lifted by RPN will be noticed only by the most law-abiding restaurants, Mironov believes. “Those who have not complied with the requirements recently, of course, will not be affected by this step,” he said.

By mid-2023, there were very few restrictions on the operation of catering and stores, notes the Corporation’s CEO SME Alexander Isaevich. The main measures that brought losses to businesses (and these are restrictions on the occupancy of halls, bans on holding mass events) were removed long ago, he recalls. “In 2021 and 2022. we worked very actively together with business with the authorities of the regions to remove excessive restrictions,” Isaevich told Vedomosti.

The cost of complying with the RPN requirements (purchase of disinfectants, masks, gloves, etc.) in 2020 amounted to 8% of turnover, restaurateur and hotelier Dmitry Volodin told Vedomosti. “The worst thing is when we were closed and had to work only takeaway. All further restrictions have not dealt such a blow,” he said.

At the same time, Volodin positively assesses the experience of “operational modification of the kitchen” and the development of a delivery service during a pandemic. According to him, since 2020, compliance with increased disinfection standards has become commonplace, and employees of all establishments can still wear masks and gloves if they wish.

Despite the lifting of COVID restrictions, some of the measures introduced during the pandemic remained in the network’s enterprises on a regular basis, Inna Korotenina, senior director for quality at Tasty and Tochka, told Vedomosti. For example, network employees are examined, including for signs of infectious diseases. Employees of the enterprise remain required to observe the rules of personal hygiene, in particular, they must wash their hands at least once an hour or more often if necessary.

There is no point in restrictive measures in connection with the coronavirus, most of them could be removed as early as 2022, says Sergey Voznesensky, Associate Professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. The actions of the RPN, in his opinion, were expected due to the official end of the pandemic, announced by WHO in May, as well as a decrease in the incidence rate and hospitalizations.

“We don’t see any significant numbers right now. [заболеваемости]. Plus, the summer period is not the season for respiratory viral infections. Therefore, all these restrictions can be lifted absolutely calmly without a possible subsequent rise in the incidence,” the expert told Vedomosti.

At the same time, he does not exclude that in the event of an increase in the incidence of influenza, SARS and COVID-19 in autumn and winter, part of the restrictive measures may be returned, for example, disinfection requirements.

The Russian economy has lost 3.6 trillion rubles due to the COVID-19 epidemic. for 2020-2022, says in an RPN report published in early June. In 2022, the damage amounted to more than 1.6 trillion rubles, or almost 1% of the country’s GDP. This amount includes direct medical expenses and indirect losses to the economy (due to sickness and death of workers).

“Given the significant number of deaths from COVID-19 in 2022, a preliminary assessment of only one component – ​​“years of life lost in case of death” – can be determined in the amount of at least 500 million rubles. Thus, the total economic damage to the Russian Federation from COVID-19 in 2022 amounted to at least 1.6 trillion rubles,” Rospotrebnadzor noted.