Russia orders to shut border with China amid coronavirus outbreak

Amid coronavirus outbreak, Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on January 30 ordered to close its border with China to prevent the spread of the virus. According to a Russian news agency, Mishustin said that the order to take the measures to close the border in the Far East has been signed. The deadly virus is increasing at a terrifying pace every day as the death toll climbed to 170 and has left nearly 7,711 people infected.

As the disease continues to spread rapidly, health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global epidemic, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and several Asian countries besides China.

Macau has also denied entry to visitors from China's Hubei province unless they can provide documentation showing that they are not infected with the virus. The Macau government said that they will also not allow those who visited the province 14 days prior to their arrival.

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China's immediate neighbour, Mongolia has further closed all universities and educational institutes until March 2 to prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus. Citing a cabinet meeting, Mongolian state media also said that it has closed the border crossings for auto vehicles and pedestrian traffic from January 27 and called for public gatherings to be cancelled.

India also requested the Chinese government for the permission to operate two flights to evacuate Indian nationals from Hubei Province of China. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar posted an update on January 29 that Indian Embassy in China is also currently in touch with the Chinese authorities for the necessary logistics to bring back Indians.

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Risk assessment for china 'very high'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also urged all the governments to take action over the outbreak of deadly SARS-like virus. The organisation also called for an emergency meeting to be held on Thursday over whether the viral epidemic should be declared a global health emergency. Earlier this week, WHO had also updated the global risk degree from 'moderate' to 'high' and cited an error in their previous report. Further, the WHO's risk assessment for China is 'very high'. 

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(with inputs from agencies)