Putin claimed the number of new cases was stabilizing but warned the country was entering a tough phase of the pandemic:

“The daily increase in cases has relatively stabilized, but this mustn’t calm us down, the situation is still very serious,” Putin said. “The peak is not behind us, we are about to face a new and grueling phase of the pandemic… the deadly threat of the virus remains.”…

“We can’t talk about it as a simultaneous cancellation of restrictions, we must prepare for a tough road ahead,” Putin said. “We need to account for all risks and show sensibility, so we are not thrown back to lose everything we have so far achieved.”

Putin did acknowledge the country had a problem producing enough PPE saying, “compared to what [production] was before, it’s a lot. But compared to what we need now, it’s still not enough.” Putin was probably forced to make this admission because nurses in Moscow have been quitting over the terrible conditions and lack of equipment:

In a case which may or may not be related, the head doctor at a hospital in Siberia who had complained about the PPE situation recently had a mysterious fall out a window.

Yelena Nepomnyashchaya, 47, fell from a fifth-floor window of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Hospital for War Veterans after talks with the head of the Krasnoyarsk region’s health department, according to the TVK broadcaster.

Nepomnyashchaya was allegedly opposed to repurposing another of the hospital’s buildings to house 80 Covid-19 patients because of its shortage of protective gear and lack of proper training among staff, TVK cited an unnamed source as saying.

“Perhaps these were the circumstances that prompted the woman to commit a desperate act,” the source was quoted as saying.

Police are still investigating and, so far, haven’t ruled out foul play. Meanwhile, support for the country’s president-for-life is at a 14-year low:

Russians’ trust in President Vladimir Putin has fallen to a 14-year low, the state-funded VTsIOM polling agency said Monday.

The latest poll results come as Russian authorities — and Putin in particular — have faced criticism for their response to the coronavirus pandemic, which many see as providing insufficient support to businesses and workers.

One Russian soccer player named Yevgeny Frolov was very blunt about how Putin has handled the crisis.

“What the president says on television is all nonsense,” Frolov said during the interview, according to The Moscow Times. “There are no real actions. When talking to real businessmen, one can learn that banks will never issue soft loans and will not give a [loan] delay. Credit holidays? They’re not here. The president said, ‘You must,’ but no one listens to him.”

Speaking about the coronavirus outbreak, he said, “We are forced to stay at home, and there is no help from the state. Yes, and we are being fined [for going out]. People have no money, and the average fine is 5,000 [rubles]. People are going a second month in a row without a salary. This is not the case in Europe. And we see how our police work: They just twist people’s hands or hit them in the face and take them away.”

Frolov is now facing a fine from his team. He should probably stay away from fifth-floor windows for a few weeks.