RUSSIALINK: “Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | April 7” – Moscow Times

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 7, 2020)

As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 74,000 people worldwide continues to spread, Russia has stepped up its measures to tackle the pandemic and prevent its spread within the country.

There have been 7,497 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 58 deaths.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia as of April 7.MT

April 7: 3 things you need to know today

• Russia confirmed 1,154 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 7,497 and marking a new record one-day increase in infections.
• President Vladimir Putin announced an extension of the nationwide “non-working week” until April 30 after the country registered a sharp increase in coronavirus cases on Thursday. Speaking in a televised address, he added that he would delegate the decisionmaking power on anti-coronavirus measures to regional authorities given the regional differences in infection rates.
• Putin has signed legislation imposing severe punishment – including up to five years in prison – for people convicted of spreading false information about the coronavirus. The legislation also imposes punishments for people breaking coronavirus quarantine rules, including up to seven years in prison.

More updates

• Putin has asked health experts whether it would be possible to end Russia’s paid “non-working” period sooner than planned. He originally declared a “non-working” week from March 28 to April 5, then extended the period until April 30. During the meeting, he added that the peak of the coronavirus epidemic in Russia hasn’t passed yet.
• The head doctor at Moscow’s Davydovsky hospital, Yelena Vasiliyeva, has tested positive for coronavirus, the Mash Telegram channel reported. Because she continued to work and attend conferences while waiting for the test results, more than 500 patients and doctors who were in contact with her are now self-quarantining and getting tested for the virus.
• Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot has requested permission to operate a flight from Moscow to New York today to return U.S. nationals stuck in Russia due to its closed border and suspension of international flights, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said. Aeroflot’s last Moscow-New York flight was abruptly canceled on April 3 after the plane had already started taxiing to the runway.
• Russia’s largest business associations have called on the government to introduce a sweeping package of measures to support employers amid the coronavirus lockdown. In a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, firms asked the government to cover two-thirds of employees’ salaries for those who cannot work due to the shutdown. They also requested subsidies to cover businesses’ rent and loan repayments. So far, the government has offered firms only tax deferrals and instructed state-run banks to provide low-interest loans to the worst-hit companies.
• Russia has conducted more than 795,000 coronavirus tests so far, the federal consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.

April 6

• Russia confirmed 954 new coronavirus infections, bringing the official number of cases to 6,343 and marking a new record one-day increase.
• Russia will send $1 million to the World Health Organization to help in the fight against coronavirus, according to a decree signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
• Three Russian Orthodox priests in Moscow have been hospitalized with coronavirus, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. Two other priests are showing symptoms of the virus but their diagnosis hasn’t been confirmed.
• It is “unacceptable” for Russia’s regions to close their borders with other regions of the country, Mishustin said at a meeting with regional envoys after the republic of Chechnya sealed off its borders. The Kremlin also called such measures “excessive.”
• Russia’s health watchdog Rosdravnadzor has developed an “express” coronavirus test that can test at 94% accuracy within 40 minutes, the Industry and Trade Ministry said.
• Three regions of Russia – the Irkutsk region, Tomsk region and Krasnoyarsk region – have begun ordering all people arriving from Moscow and St. Petersburg to self-isolate for two weeks in a move to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

April 5

• Russia confirmed 658 new coronavirus infections, bringing the official number of cases to 5,389. Forty-five people have been killed by the virus in Russia. The majority of new cases were in Moscow, where Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the risk of the coronavirus spreading is the highest in the country. The capital accounts for 87% of all confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia.

April 3

• Russia will halt flights returning its nationals from abroad after midnight Saturday, Interfax cited an unnamed source at an unnamed airline as saying. Domodedovo, one of Moscow’s four international airports, has shut down its international flights board, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
• Russia has sent military medics and equipment to Serbia, the latest country Moscow is helping to fight the global coronavirus pandemic as it also flexes its soft power muscles.
• Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the city will hold off on introducing a QR code pass system to enforce residents’ movements under quarantine and extended the quarantine until May 1. He said city authorities would reconsider implementing the system if the coronavirus situation worsens or the number of self-isolation violations rises.
• Moscow residents may now only ride together in a private vehicle if they live at the same address, Moscow City Duma speaker Alexei Shaposhnikov said. Police have begun randomly stopping cars to check passengers’ ID.
• Anastasia Vasiliyeva, the head of the Doctors’ Alliance, an independent trade union linked to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, was detained overnight in the Nizhny Novgorod region. She and other members of the union were there to donate protective gear to doctors fighting the coronavirus, the union tweeted ….

[Article also appeared at themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/07/coronavirus-in-russia-the-latest-news-april-7-a69117]