Masks off for selfie in Murmansk bikers parade as Russia hits 10,000 Covid-19 cases a day

“I wish the northerners good health and always be on the horseback,” Governor Chibis said to his fellow bikers on the eve of Murmansk’s 104th anniversary. The bikers drove parade from the town of Kola to the World War II memorial statue of Alosha in Murmansk.

In his speech, Chibis noted that Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer rights and human welfare watchdog, had granted permission to hold the parade “in strict compliance with security measures for coronavirus.”

The photos of the parade, posted by the regional authorities, show a slightly different story.

No distancing is seen as about 200 of the bikers are gathering for a group photo in front of the Alosha memorial on the hill just north of the city center.

Other photos show some wearing masks, some with masks but nose to the wind, and others with no mask at all. See photo gallery below.

The Murmansk bikers’ event happens amid the second wave of COVID-19. 

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96 new cases were registered on Saturday, one of the highest numbers since the last peak in May. On Sunday, another 58 cases were added, according to the Vkontakte page monitoring the situation in the Murmansk region.

A total of 15,375 cases were by October 4th registered as carriers of the virus. The number includes the cases at Novatek’s Belokamenka construction site outside Murmansk, which in April became the hotbed of coronavirus in the Russian north.

Russia confirmed another 10,499 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the first peak above 10,000 per day since May 12. The official number of cases is now 1,215,001, according to health authorities.

21,358 have died and new infections across the country continue to rise.