Putin Orders New National Mask Mandate as Russia Sees Second COVID-19 Spike

This is perhaps one of the few things that might make President Donald Trump change his mind on a national mask mandate. Vladimir Putin on Tuesday made his most direct intervention yet to stave off a second wave of novel coronavirus infections by reintroducing a national mask mandate in Russia, The New York Times reports. Masks will reportedly be mandatory in public places like public transport, parking garages, and anywhere where more than 50 people can gather. Since the end of Russia’s first nationwide lockdown, Putin has delegated pandemic measures to regional leaders, so the new mandate marks a change in his government’s thinking. It came as Russia recorded more than 16,000 new cases five days in a row.