Russian President Putin says month-long quarantine vital to contain coronavirus spread

As Russia reported 601 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to nearly 4,149 in the country, President Vladimir Putin reportedly told the members of the Security Council that the introduction of quarantine measures until May was necessary to contain the spread of the deadly virus. During a video conference on April 3, Putin told the members that in accordance with his decree, the special measures have been extended until the end of April. As of Friday, Russia also confirmed almost 34 deaths due to coronavirus.

Furthermore, he added that the Russian government will build all the work on the quarantine bases. The authorities will be ensuring the main priorities, the life and health of Russian citizens. Putin reportedly said that the recent measures were necessary as ‘that’s what the experts say’. Due to the unprecedented times, Putin also postponed the April public vote on constitutional reforms, which was scheduled for April 22 and was the last hurdle before a set of reforms, including a change allowing Putin to stay in the presidency beyond 2024, could come into force. 

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In a bid to contain the virus spread, on March 29, Russia’s capital Moscow also went under lockdown. he strict isolation measures confine citizens to their homes unless for a medical emergency, to travel to essential jobs, shop for food or medicines or walk their dogs. The Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also asked authorities across the country to prepare for similar orders as the country began a ‘non-working’ week. The measure came after the Muscovites failed to follow the official recommendations by the authority to self-isolate. 

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International flights halted 

Apart from the measures to shut down all public spaces, the government earlier had also ordered halting all international flights from midnight from March 27 under its decree listing new measures against the coronavirus outbreak. The decree published on March 26 orders aviation authorities to halt all regular and charter flights, with the exception of special flights evacuating Russian citizens from abroad. Russia's civil aviation agency Rosaviatsiya will halt ‘regular and charter air travel from Russian airports to airports of foreign states and back’, according to the decree published on the government's website.

Meanwhile, coronavirus, which originated in China in December 2019, has now claimed over 55,000 lives worldwide as of April 3. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 204 countries and has infected more than one million people. Out of the total infections, 222,240 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries including Spain, and the economy is struggling. 

(Image source: AP) 

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