Russia's novel coronavirus outbreak appears to have become increasingly severe, as the number of cases jumped significantly over the weekend, and Moscow officially enabled its system for movement of people on Wednesday.

The country reported 2,744 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking its total to 21,102, with 170 deaths, according to Russian health authorities.

Now, the bustling streets of the capital of Moscow, with a population of more than 12.5 million, are almost empty.

The new cases in Moscow jumped by 1,489 to almost 13,000 in the past day, and the number of patients hospitalized has also doubled in recent days, Reuters quoted a health official as saying. Meanwhile, the need for a QR code from the permit system for all residents in the Russian capital to drive around the capital and its suburbs will become compulsory on Wednesday.

According to the order signed by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow residents were able to apply for Wednesday's passes on Monday.

Eduard Lysenko, the head of the capital's information technologies department, said over 1.8 million electronic passes to drive around the city amid the coronavirus lockdown had been issued till the end of Monday.

Stay at home

Moscow's residents have been told to stay at home unless they need to make essential trips to buy food or access urgent medical care. But World Health Organization Representative in Russia Melita Vujnovic said that some local residents still did not adhere to the quarantine measures.

Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the experience of Moscow, hardest hit by the novel coronavirus in Russia, was important for the other regions.

He said every regional head takes decisions independently to impose restrictive measure amid the pandemic in coordination with the federal center, and the experience of Moscow was important for the heads of other regions.

In a related development, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized what he said was sloppiness in some regions that had allowed local outbreaks to gain a foothold and urged regional leaders to make use of the experience from Moscow.

He said during a government meeting about the nationwide epidemiological situation on Monday that Russia might need to call in the army to help tackle the coronavirus crisis.

He said the military has done well in handling medical aid in the United States, Italy and Serbia in recent weeks, although some of the acts have drawn criticism from social media.

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