1/ Moscow has reportedly been put on plague alert as part of a 'special sanitary operation', while hospitals in Irkutsk have been closed and medical staff put under lockdown. Indiscriminate Russian government censorship is leading to a wave of panicked rumours and criticism. ⬇️
2/ Journalist Irina Mishina reports that Moscow is being put under an "emergency sanitary regime" after a laboratory technician in Irkutsk reportedly died from pneumonic plague after an accident. 3/ Established facts about the incident have been hard to come by due to unusually intensive official censorship, with locals reportedly being warned not to write anything about it. 4/ According to one version, cited by Irkutsk journalist Pavel Stepanov and the publication Mash, on 25 September, 28-year-old laboratory assistant Darya Shipilova of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute accidentally broke a vial containing the pneumonic plague pathogen.
5/ She soon felt unwell and was hospitalized in the city's Shelekhov hospital, where she died in the early hours of 2 October. FSB officers reportedly accompanied ambulances transporting people who had been in contact with the technician for examination.
6/ Regional Governor Igor Kobyzev has spoken of an "especially dangerous infection" and stated that the situation was being "strictly controlled." 7/ Around 200 people are said to have been put in quarantine. Four Irkutsk hospitals have been closed. Sixty employees of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute are said to have been forced to spend the night locked inside the building, sleeping on chairs. 8/ According to the Telegram channel "People of Baikal," Irkutsk doctors are "already openly talking about the plague." The channel reports that local patients have been given questionnaires asking them if they have experienced symptoms of plague. 9/ Local firms have implemented masking requirements. The Central Asian states of Kakazhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, as the nearest foreign countries to the reported incident, have stepped up plague monitoring of travellers from Russia. 10/ The official government line is that there's nothing to see here. Rospotrebsouz (the Federal Consumer Protection body) announced that "there were no emergencies involving pathogenic microorganisms at the Irkutsk Institute, and the employee died of pneumonia."
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11/ Few appear to believe this, however, and many Russian bloggers have commented on it or posted plague-related jokes. The authorities' intense secrecy about the incident has attracted criticism from Irkutsk residents and commentators more widely. 12/ Elena Trifonova, the publisher of the "People of Baikal" channel, says: "There are no noticeable changes if you go outside, except that people are worried and anxious. Of course, they are outraged by the fact that they are not being told anything." 13/ "The authorities are behaving very poorly towards the people, and people are outraged by this. They are writing about it, talking about it, and writing about it in the governor's chat in the comments, and demanding that they be told what is actually happening." 14/ The 'Critical News Feed' Telegram channel notes an interview with REN TV in which a doctor explained the logic behind this silence: "medical personnel are specifically instructed not to communicate with the press in such situations,… 15/ …and only the press secretary of the institution can provide comments. Furthermore, a complete confirmation of the diagnosis after laboratory tests usually takes about six days". 16/ The channel comments that "for the city's residents, the lack of official information, coupled with visible signs of quarantine – people in protective suits on the streets, closed hospitals, and restrictions on visiting mothers even under paid contracts –… 17/ …creates a situation where they have to rely on conflicting rumors instead of verified data, which in itself increases anxiety and the risk of panic in the city." 18/ The author calls for Russian officials to be more open about the incident and says that they are "only being saved by one thing – the increased tolerance of citizens towards negative news." 19/ "For Russians who have experienced the COVID era with its excesses, and four and a half years of war, inflation, blockades, and a new wave of repression, the "plague story" is just another news item in a stream of similar events, all equally infuriating." 20/ The exiled Russian journalist Oleg Kashin calls it "a clear example of a complex and ambiguous reputation. It seems equally undeniable that the Russian state is capable of losing control of the most dangerous pathogens,… 21/ …and yet also capable of quickly and effectively organising quarantines, vaccinations, and other measures. There is no reason to doubt either its ability to create an epidemic or its ability to defeat it. 22/ "Therefore, everyone is free to view what is happening based on their own perceptions of the Russian state. 23/ "Both those who see the outbreak in Irkutsk as a sign of a deadly threat emanating from Russia, in addition to existing military and political threats, and those who are willing to believe that a major disaster can be avoided because a ruthless and therefore… 24/ …effective state apparatus will stand in its way, are equally justified. They will close the city, put everyone in quarantine, and perhaps even imprison some people, impose censorship, and lie a lot, but ultimately they will solve the problem. 25/ "In fact, it already gives the impression of being solved – the incubation period for the plague is very short, and if there were no mass deaths in the first week, then it is likely that there will not be any in the future." 26/ Rumours are reportedly flying around about the incident, with claims that Russia's de facto ally China is responsible both for the plague and for the recent outbreak of bear attacks across Russia. 27/ 'Propagandist's Notebook' complains: "The focus is on the fact that China is responsible for all these disasters. They claim that China spread the plague and destroyed the forest in a way that drives bears crazy." 28/ The channel dismisses the whole thing as enemy propaganda: "With the aim of diverting attention from events in Kyiv, the Russian-speaking segment of social media is being flooded with news about the plague in Irkutsk and man-eating bears." 29/ "The sheer volume of this material is designed to prevent users from accessing any information from the front lines. Be vigilant. The stronger Russia strikes the enemy on the front lines, the more intense the hysteria will be online." /end Sources: 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me