MOSCOW Moscow authorities are launching a digital permit system to control people’s movements after warning the coronavirus outbreak has put a huge strain on hospitals. A website to apply for the passes was working Monday for people travelling by car or public transport. The permit system, which will be operational from Wednesday, may be expanded to monitor people going out even w ithin their local neighbourhood, if needed, authorities said. City authorities had planned to assign Muscovites scannable bar codes to check whether people adhere to strict isolation rules, but that sparked huge controversy. People would have had to apply for a QR code from officials online each time they wanted to leave their homes.—APP
