A record 1 159 deaths from Covid in 24 hours have prompted Russian health authorities to shut shops, restaurants and schools in Moscow.
Workers across Russia have been given nine days off, from Saturday.
According to the BBC, only essential shops like supermarkets and pharmacies will be allowed to open in the capital, while food outlets are only providing takeaways.
The partial lockdown comes into effect on Saturday. Russia’s last major lockdown was in May-June 2020.
The BBC reports that official data reveals 40 096 new infections in 85 regions of Russia – another record.
The country’s overall Covid death toll in the pandemic is officially more than 230 000, the highest in Europe and one of the highest in the world.
In part owing to popular scepticism about the locally developed Sputnik V vaccines, the proportion of Russia’s population fully vaccinated remains low; by 23 October it was 32.8%, according to Our World in Data. Most European countries have much higher rates.