Alexei Mukhin, a well-known Russian political scientist and head of the Center for Political Information, said that excessive restrictive measures under the provisions for self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic may be even worse than the impact of the coronavirus infection itself.
Muhkin believes that in this regard the Russian authorities should already begin to develop the ideological model of a quarantine exit plan.
Most of the country's residents may be either immune to the virus or have already developed immunity to it. In the future, there will be the so-called “carriers’ phase,” in which people continue to get infected, but most of them will be asymptomatic. However, people from risk groups will be still affected – this refers to those who have an enfeebled immune system or chronic diseases.
In Mukhin’s opinion, the Russians have already spent certain time under the conditions of pandemic, and now it is time to think about the economy and the swelling tension in society.
“If the restrictive measures are excessive and last too long, the damage from self-isolation may be graver than those from the virus itself,” says Mukhin.