MOSCOW (REUTERS) - Moscow’s Mayor has effectively declared a public holiday for all of next week to combat a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced the decision on Saturday (June 12), saying it would not affect organisations that maintain the Russian capital’s infrastructure, the military, and other strategically important enterprises.

Monday would have been a public holiday anyway, and the Mayor told people to also stay off work for the rest of the week.

"To stop the rising rate of sickness and to save lives, I signed a decree today providing for non-working days from June 15-19 with pay for employees," Mr Sobyanin said on his official blog.

He also ordered all bars, restaurants and venues to close by 11 pm in the city until June 20.

On Saturday, Russia reported 13,510 new Covid-19 cases in the preceding 24 hours, the highest daily tally since early February.

Of those, 6,701 were reported in Moscow, the highest tally in the city so far this year.

The Mayor also urged elderly residents to remain at home, and for residents of the city to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Though vaccines have been readily available in the capital since January, when Russia launched its national inoculation programme, the take-up rate has been slow.

Mr Sobyanin in May decried the low take-up rate, describing it as "remarkable" that hospitals in the capital were filling up with Covid-19 patients while vaccines were widely available.