COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Update

Coronavirus File Photo adapted from image at cdc.gov

Subject: COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Update
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2020
From: Josh Wilson <jwilson@sras.org>

COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Update
SRAS.org

SRAS Updates on COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Update as of March 10, 2020

Russia, including the city Moscow where elevated precautions are being taken, has not yet applied any restrictions to US citizens traveling to Russia.

US citizens arriving to Moscow or any other location in Russia can expect to have their temperature taken at the airport, potentially multiple times, to be photographed, and to be asked for extensive contact information so that the city authorities can update them on any changes to the situation. Moscow, and Russia in general, has maintained very low virus rates by taking such precautions.

Although at least one news report has emerged saying that the travelers from the US have been placed on Moscow’s “self-quarantine” list, the Moscow mayor’s office itself has denied these reports to SRAS via its hotline set up specifically to disseminate information on Moscow’s coronavirus policies. The mayor’s office has also stated that all official changes to policy will be posted to Mos.ru and Sobyanin.ru, two official sites of the Moscow city administration. Neither of these sites currently list travelers from the US as affected by the coronavirus policies.

The mayor’s office also stated that, as of March 10, 2020, those travelers with connecting flights from affected countries are subject to “self quarentine” if they are staying in Moscow. Thus, a passenger traveling from New York to Moscow with a connection anywhere in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, China, Iran, or South Korea, will be expected to self-quarantine for 14 days within Moscow. This list of countries will be updated as the global situation evolves.

However, travelers connecting in Moscow for travel to other Russian cities are not currently affected by Moscow city policies of self-quarantine. So long as the passenger does not intend to exit customs control in Moscow and spend time in the city itself, the passenger will be allowed to continue his or her flight to another location. Currently, Moscow is the only Russian city with specific travel-related policies.

The situation remains fluid. SRAS will continue carefully monitoring this situation through the Moscow mayor’s office and continue to update this page as developments occur.

You can find all our updates here:

SRAS Updates on COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

Josh Wilson
Assistant Director
The School of Russian and Asian Studies
Editor in Chief
Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
SRAS.org
jwilson@sras.org
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