RUSSIALINK: “Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | April 13” – Moscow Times

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 13, 2020)

As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 114,000 people worldwide continues to spread, Russia has stepped up its measures to slow the pandemic’s spread within its borders.

There have been 15,770 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 130 deaths.

April 13: 3 things you need to know today

1. Russia confirmed 2,558 new coronavirus infections on Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 18,328 and marking the latest one-day record in new cases.

2. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced additional lockdown measures from April 13-19 in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, with all nonessential business and activity suspended. Grocery stores and pharmacies will stay open, and only the government, hospitals, protective gear manufacturers and the defense sector will continue to work. All construction and maintenance work is suspended, as are car-sharing services.

3. Moscow will introduce its digital pass system to allow residents to leave their homes this week. Traffic police have also been deployed at all city entry points to control movement and ask drivers why they’re entering the Russian capital during the coronavirus lockdown, according to state media.

More updates

• The coronavirus situation in Russia is worsening and the next few weeks will be “decisive” for the country, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
• China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province has tightened its border controls to prevent new coronavirus infections from neighboring Russia, Bloomberg reported. A growing number of Chinese nationals have returned from Russia with the virus, threatening a new outbreak in the country where the pandemic originated.
• The Russian Orthodox Church’s St. Petersburg diocese has ordered the city’s cathedrals to close their Holy Week and Easter services to the public and broadcast services online.
• Russian Railways will indefinitely suspend free long-distance rail travel for World War II veterans starting April 13 to encourage over-65s to stay home. The free travel offer had been introduced ahead of the 75th anniversary of Victory Day in May.
• More than 500 Russian writers, publishers and bookstores have signed an open letter asking the government to provide support to the book industry after the coronavirus lockdown shuttered bookstores across the. country.

April 12

• Russia confirmed 2,186 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 15,770 and marking a one-day record in new cases.
• More than half of China’s coronavirus infections reported on Sunday originated from a Russian flight to Shanghai the day before, a potential sign of the severity of Russia’s outbreak, Bloomberg reported. So far this month, China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province has reported more than 100 infections imported from Russia through its land borders.

April 11

• Russia confirmed 1,667 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 13,584 and marking a slight decrease in infections from the previous day.

April 10

• Russia confirmed 1,786 new coronavirus infections, bringing its official number of cases up to 11,917 and marking a new record one-day increase.
• In a statement Friday, Sobyanin also said that Moscow will gradually introduce a digital pass system to enforce lockdown rules starting April 14. The first stage will introduce passes for trips to work, the second stage will introduce them for other trips and the third stage will introduce them for trips within the region.
• Moscow’s health department has warned the city’s clinics that many coronavirus tests return false negative results, the Kommersant business daily reported.
• Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Friday spoke with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump for the third time in two weeks, discussing the coronavirus pandemic and global oil prices.
• Moscow’s hospitals and ambulance service are working at peak capacity after a sharp rise in those hospitalized with serious coronavirus complications, a senior city official said Friday.
• A detention center east of Moscow has been placed under lockdown after the alleged death of one of its inspectors from coronavirus, the Mash Telegram channel reported.
• At least 170 doctors and patients at a hospital in central Russia have tested positive for coronavirus in preliminary tests, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
• The Russian Orthodox Church has advised worshippers to pray at home during the Holy Week and Easter, the Church’s most important holidays.

April 9

• Russia’s number of coronavirus cases surpassed 10,000 as new infections surged. The country confirmed 1,459 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases up to 10,131 and marking a new record one-day increase.
• Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has temporarily banned Muscovites from visiting the city’s cemeteries except for those attending funerals. Many Russians visit the cemetery on Orthodox Palm Sunday, which falls on April 19 this year.
• The health minister of Russia’s northwestern republic of Komi has resigned after the remote region became one of the country’s hotspots for the coronavirus.
• Moscow is planning to track foreign tourists’ movements through smartphone geolocation for coronavirus prevention after Russia reopens its national borders, the Kommersant business daily reported Thursday.
• Coronavirus patients in Moscow have started to receive blood plasma transfusions from recovered patients, the city’s deputy mayor for social development said. Blood plasma from coronavirus survivors has been found to help current patients recover from the virus.
• Russia’s consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnazdor said that more than 1 million coronavirus tests have been carried out across the country. …

[article also appeared at themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/13/coronavirus-in-russia-the-latest-news-april-13-a69117]