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Amid the risk of a coronavirus epidemic in Moscow, it is better to open virtual polling stations

The first case of coronavirus has been recorded in Moscow. The city, which has already taken a tough stance on preventive and restrictive measures, does not intend to reduce their intensity.

In particular, 24 people who were in contact with the sick David Berov were immediately hospitalized (he returned from Italy, which in recent days has become the main focus of the spread of infection in Europe). Moreover, he himself feels quite normal and, as he writes on Instagram, the thermometer shows 36.6.

Although high temperature is indeed not the only, or even the main symptom of COVID19, it is on the identification of “too hot” citizens that the main effort is directed. Body temperature measurement is carried out for all passengers of international flights at all airports (in addition, there are permanent medical posts). Particular attention is paid to those arriving from China, South Korea and Iran.

Thermal imagers are already installed at the entrance to many Moscow metro stations.

For those who are in quarantine, they allocate a new (not yet officially opened) huge hospital in Kommunarka.

“Daily rounds of places of mass visits and residence of Chinese citizens, as well as Russians and citizens of other countries who have flown from China to Moscow, continue until the introduction of complete control at the borders,” Sergei Sobyanin writes on his Instagram.

The temperature of Moscow schoolchildren is also regularly measured.

As the practice of China, which at the cost of even more severe quarantine measures reversed the dynamics of the spread of the virus, shows, it will take several more weeks, and maybe months.

But on April 22, all schools in Moscow should turn into polling stations, because in Russia there should be a popular vote on amendments to the Constitution proposed by the president.

It is difficult, no, absolutely impossible to imagine an event that would be in greater contradiction with the logic of all the actions of the Moscow authorities.

Millions of people should come to schools where they are now canceling more or less mass events. Of course, there is no way and there is no way to test them for coronavirus or any other disease.

And it will be a day off in the middle of the school week.

It is obvious that it will not work to locate polling stations for the popular vote anywhere else, except for schools. Of course, if these are not virtual polling stations.

So far, we do not have official confirmation of information about the development of such an option, but it would allow us to remove excess risks.

In the end, a popular vote is, from a legal point of view, not an election, but a poll, albeit a particularly significant one.

Moscow has experience in conducting electronic voting (in elections to the Moscow City Duma). Not to mention the Active Citizen system and other tools for digital interaction between the city and citizens, which the Moscow government likes to be proud of.

By the way, this would be better reflected in the turnout than attempts to drive people to an incomprehensible event, whom the same officials scare with an epidemic day and night.

No, of course, if the amendment proposed by Novaya Gazeta on state guarantees for children suffering from rare and serious diseases were put up for a vote, I would, of course, go to the polling station. But I definitely won’t take risks for the sake of the word “God” appearing in the Constitution (or so that it does not appear there).

I think I'm not the only one.

ACT!

&NBSP
“Enshrine in the Constitution the right of our children to medical care”: a petition from Novaya Gazeta