RUSSIALINK: “Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | April 27” – Moscow Times

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 27, 2020)

As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 206,000 people worldwide continues to spread, Russia has stepped up its measures to slow the pandemic’s spread within its borders.

There have been 87,147 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 794 deaths.

April 27: 3 things you need to know today

1. Russia confirmed 6,198 new coronavirus infections Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 87,147. Russia has now surpassed China to become the world’s ninth most-affected country amid the pandemic.

2. Russian doctors mistrustful of official coronavirus data have launched an unofficial list of their colleagues who have died from the virus.

3. At least 874 Russian troops tested positive for Covid-19 between March and April 26, 19 of whom are in critical or serious condition, the Defense Ministry said.

More updates

• Russia’s coronavirus lockdown measures may be gradually lightened as soon as May 12 depending on how well people comply with the measures until then, the head of the federal consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.
• The republic of Karelia in northern Russia will create an interactive map of the places where confirmed coronavirus patients in the region live, including their street names and house numbers, in order for the region’s residents to avoid these places, its head Artur Parfenchikov wrote.
• The Immortal Regiment, an annual tradition in which millions of people in Russia parade with portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, will take place in an online video broadcast this year as the coronavirus has canceled Victory Day events.
• The head of a Siberian hospital repurposed for coronavirus patients is in critical condition after she fell from the hospital building following a conference call with health officials, local media reported Saturday.
• President Vladimir Putin is not waiting out the coronavirus pandemic in a bunker, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
• The Nizhny Novgorod region will ban entry into the region unless one has an emergency work permit or proof of residence there, its governor said. The region has Russia’s fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases, after Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg.
• Nearly 50 employees at the Mariinsky Hospital in St. Petersburg have tested positive for coronavirus, the local Fontanka.ru news website reported. Starting Monday, the hospital will only treat patients with coronavirus, with all other patients transferred to other hospitals.

April 26

• Russia confirmed 6,361 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 80,949 and marking the highest one-day increase so far. Overall, 747 people have been killed by the virus.
• In St. Petersburg, four nurses have died of coronavirus this month, officials confirmed.

April 25

• Two Russian lawmakers – Leonid Kalashnikov and Dmitry Novikov, both of the Communist Party – have been infected with the coronavirus and are being treated in hospital. They are the first positive Covid-19 cases to be confirmed from among Russia’s 450-seat State Duma.

April 24

• Authorities in Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad will end the region’s coronavirus lockdown for most residents starting April 29, Governor Anton Alikhanov said, making it the first Russian region to do so. Nonessential businesses will re-open on April 29 and salons and hairdressers will re-open on May 4. All residents will be required to wear masks and observe social distancing in public.
• Moscow authorities will not ease the city’s self-isolation orders during the May holidays which include Labor Day and Victory Day, the mayor’s office said. Meanwhile, the head of Russia’s consumer health watchdog argued self-isolation should be extended by at least another two weeks, until the middle of May.
• Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he has asked Russia’s Health Ministry and Education Ministry to prepare fourth- and fifth-year medical students to help treat coronavirus patients.
• More than 40% of Moscow’s health system is now being used in the city’s fight against coronavirus, deputy mayor for social development Anastasia Rakova said.
• All of Moscow’s doctors and nurses will take an express test to detect the presence of coronavirus antibodies and test their immunity to the virus, Rakova told reporters. …

[article also appeared at themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/27/coronavirus-in-russia-the-latest-news-april-27-a69117]