The Kremlin has confirmed the first known coronavirus case in the presidential administration Friday, saying that the official had no contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the news to reporters a day after Russian media reported that at least two Kremlin officials may have tested positive for Covid-19.
“I can confirm one case. I don’t know about the second one,” Peskov was quoted by Interfax as saying.
Peskov declined to identify the Kremlin official who tested positive for Covid-19, citing Russia’s privacy laws, the state-run TASS news agency reported. He did not say when or if the Kremlin’s first coronavirus patient had had contact with Putin.
TASS said unconfirmed reports suggested that the infected person may be a state awards staffer who attended Putin’s presidential awards ceremony in Crimea after she had returned from Spain.
Meanwhile, Peskov confirmed that he had attended the same star-studded birthday party two weeks ago as a renowned singer who tested positive for coronavirus this week. Peskov said he did not see the singer, the 78-year-old Lev Leshchenko, at the party and stressed that attendees barely shook hands there.
An official working under the Russian cabinet’s chief of staff has also tested positive for coronavirus and has since been quarantined, the Meduza news website reported Thursday.
Russia’s lower house of parliament, the 450-seat State Duma, said it will require all of its deputies to take coronavirus tests next Monday.
Russia’s number of coronavirus cases reached 1,036 on Friday as the country’s official tally jumped by a record daily amount for the third day in a row.
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