Moscow to impose strictest lockdown measures since June 2020

FILE PHOTO: People wait to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination centre in Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Moscow will reintroduce COVID-19 lockdown measures from Oct. 28, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Thursday, with supermarkets and pharmacies the only shops allowed to stay open in an effort to cut soaring infections and deaths.

The decision came a day after President Vladimir Putin approved a nationwide week-long workplace shutdown from Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 and said regional leaders could introduce tighter measures at their discretion.