Coronavirus pandemic has brough life to a near standstill. Our city usually accepts first Baltic cruise ships in April. But this April shore excursions to St Petersburg are on pause.
However St Petersburg passenger port Marine Façade hopes that the navigation will start in May. I apologize the full text is in Russian, if you would like to have a complete story, please use Google Translate. The gist of it is as follows:
Распоряжением Правительства Российской Федерации №635-р от 16.03.2020, введено временное ограничение на въезд иностранных граждан и лиц без гражданства с 18 марта по 1 мая 2020 года.
On the order of the Russian Federation government (#635-p dated March 16, 2020), temporary restrictions on entry of foreign visitors are imposed from March 18 till May 1, 2020.
On our side we hope that coronavirus epidemic will somehow find its way around St Petersburg. So far we do not have that many cases as in Moscow.
Total number of cases in Russia for today, April 5 is 5389. Deaths: 45. Recovered: 355 people. Moscow and Moscow region are on the top of the list having 4198 cases total. St. Petersburg is not that much affected: 248 cases total in the city and Leningrad region, deaths: 3, recovered: 32 persons.
St Petersburg Streets Waiting for Tourists to Return
According to the self-isolation index introduced by a Russian search engine Yandex, St Petersburg ranks among the top 5 cities in Russia. At 8 a.m. (usually a rush hour), the rate was 4.1, which means there was almost no one in the streets.
Empty streets are heaven for a photographer: a rare opportunity to take pictures of St Petersburg landmarks without crowds of tourists.
General Staff Arch with no people
Rare pictures: empty Nevsky Avenue and Palace Square, no people in the subway and closed shops.
