RUSSIALINK: “Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | March 30” – Moscow Times

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 30, 2020)

Russia has stepped up its measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and prevent its spread within the country.Aleksander Avilov / Moskva News Agency

As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 33,000 people continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up its measures to tackle the pandemic and prevent its spread within the country.

There have been 1,836 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and nine deaths.

March 30: 3 things you need to know today

1. Russia confirmed 302 new coronavirus infections on Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 1,836 and marking the latest one-day record in new cases. The majority of new infections in Moscow were among people aged 18 to 40, the city’s coronavirus crisis center said.

2. Moscow will enact an indefinite citywide quarantine starting Monday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said as the city’s number of coronavirus cases surpassed 1,000 over the weekend.

According to the decree, Moscow residents will only be allowed to leave their homes to seek emergency medical care, shop for food or medicine, go to work, walk pets or take out the garbage. The self-isolation order will apply to all residents regardless of age.

3. Russia will close its borders starting March 30 in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a government order published on Saturday said. The measure will come into force at all vehicle, rail and pedestrian checkpoints, and apply to Russia’s maritime borders.

More updates:

• In televised comments on state television, President Vladimir Putin said decisive measures by Russia had helped win it time in its battle to contain the coronavirus and to prevent an explosive growth in cases, but that it was vital authorities now used that time effectively.
• Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asked Russia’s regional governors to consider imposing the same restrictions on movement to halt the spread of the coronavirus that have been imposed in Moscow, the state-run RIA news agency reported.
• The Murmansk region, the Vologda region and the Ryazan region have enacted region-wide stay-at-home orders for their residents, following suit with Moscow’s quarantine. Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad has also announced a region-wide quarantine order starting Tuesday.
• Russia’s republic of Sakha is drafting a similar order, the state-run RBC news website reported.
• The makeshift memorial to opposition politician Boris Nemtsov at the site near the Kremlin where he was gunned down in 2015 has been abandoned for the first time since his death due to Moscow’s stay-at-home order, the activists who had maintained a 24/7 watch at the memorial said.

March 29

• Russia confirmed 270 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 1,534 and marking another record one-day increase.
• Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill has called on believers to avoid churches as the coronavirus is spreading across Russia. Earlier, the Church resisted calls to close its doors despite the Moscow mayor’s advice to the public to avoid church services.
• According to official statistics, 40% of all the patients that are using artificial ventilation are under 40 years old and 15% of seriously ill patients in Moscow are under 40 years.

March 28

• Russia confirmed 228 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 1,264.
• Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA said it was temporarily halting all testing in response to government measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
• Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Theatre has begun streaming some of its most notable past performances online after being forced to shut its doors to the public as a result of tough new restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

March 27

• Russia confirmed 196 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 1,036 and marking the largest one-day increase in cases so far. It also said one person had died in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to four.
• Russia will suspend all regular and charter flights to other countries starting today.
• President Vladimir Putin has declared that the week from March 28 to April 5 will be a nationwide paid holiday to encourage Russians to stay home and slow the spread of the virus. All restaurants and cafes have been ordered to close during this time with the exception of delivery services.
• Russia is urging its citizens to refrain from traveling, with the exception of essential trips, asking people to stay at home in an effort to stop the spread of coronavrius, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said. Mishustin said tough measures were needed, adding that the more stringent changes in Moscow should be extended to other regions of the country.
• Russia will close all resorts, sanatoriums and children’s camps until June 1 in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Regional authorities have been advised to tell their residents to avoid traveling.
• The Kremlin confirmed that a member of the presidential administration has tested positive for coronavirus. According to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the infected person had no contact with Putin.
• A Russian citizen infected with coronavirus has died in a hospital in Cuba.
• The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and its partners have produced 500,000 coronavirus test kits so far, but are planning to soon ramp up production to 2.5 million kits a week, Kirill Dmitriev, RDIF’s head, told Reuters in a phone interview. …

[Full article appeared at themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/30/coronavirus-in-russia-the-latest-news-march-29-a69117]