As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, Russia has gradually become the world’s second most-infected country.
There have been 308,705 cases of coronavirus infections reported in Russia so far and 2,972 deaths.
May 20: 3 things you need to know today
1. Russia confirmed 8,764 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 308,705 and marking the lowest daily increase since May 1. Russia now has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus infections.
2. Moscow’s coronavirus death rate will be “significantly” higher in May than it was in April, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned.
3. Russian medics are 16 times more likely to die from the coronavirus than healthcare professionals in countries with similarly high Covid-19 numbers, the Mediazona news website reported Tuesday.
May 19
— Russia confirmed 9,263 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 299,941.
— Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has resumed his official duties nearly three weeks after first announcing that he had been diagnosed with the coronavirus and naming an acting prime minister.
— The Saratov region has reinstated its ban on walks and outdoor activities a week after easing the restriction due to the region’s high growth rate in new coronavirus cases, its vice governor said.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the situation with the coronavirus in Moscow is “still far from ideal.”
— Government offices in Moscow will reopen next week, and some clinics will be allowed to provide planned medical treatments. Sobyanin said that it was still too soon to think about reopening other parts of the capital such as shopping centres or hairdressers.
— Moscow authorities announced plans to double testing capacity to 200,000 a day by the end of May.
— Moscow residents will be allowed to go outside to walk or exercise only when the number of new daily infections reaches the “tens or hundreds, not thousands,” Sobyanin added. Moscow reported 3,545 new cases Tuesday.
— Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg has banned residents from attending funeral services regardless of the cause of death of the deceased, the Fontanka.ru news website reported.
May 18
— Russia confirmed 8,926 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 290,678 and signaling a potential slowdown in new cases.
— Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that the growth in new coronavirus cases has been stopped in Russia.
— Russia’s national coronavirus crisis center has stopped updating the latest Covid-19 death counts in at least two Siberian regions while the regions have published new numbers, the Tayga.info news website reported.
— Twenty-seven of Russia’s 85 regions are ready to start gradually easing coronavirus restrictions, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
— President Vladimir Putin said the coronavirus situation in Dagestan required urgent attention after a top official said hundreds of people in the region might have died from the virus.
— Russia’s consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has recommended that Russian airlines fill their flights by no more than 50% in order to adequately space passengers apart from each other.
— Russia’s low coronavirus death toll compared to other countries is a result of the population’s herd immunity, the head of Russia’s Gamalei Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Alexander Gintsburg said.
May 17
— Russia confirmed 9,709 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 281,752.
— A baby was born with the coronavirus in Russia’s Caucasus region of North Ossetia, health officials were quoted by the state-run TASS news agency as saying Sunday, to a mother who is also infected. The birth in the city of Beslan follows one in mid-April in Peru, which health officials there said was the second known case of a Covid-19 positive newborn worldwide.
— The growth of new cases in Russia is stabilizing, Anna Popova, the head of public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Sunday, as the daily tally fell under 10,000 for the third day this week. “We’ve moved towards the level of stability that we’ve all been waiting for .. I would say that as of today, we have halted the growth,” she told the state television channel Rossiya 1.
— More than 13,000 people in Dagestan have contracted the coronavirus or community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the region’s health minister said Sunday. A total of 657 people have died from Covid-19 or CAP, including 40 doctors, he added. According to official statistics, there have been 3,371 coronavirus infections and just 29 deaths from Covid-19 in the region.
— Russia confirmed 9,709 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 281,752.
May 16
— Russia confirmed 9,200 new coronavirus infections Saturday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 272,043 and signaling a potential slowing of new cases.
May 15
— Russia confirmed 10,598 new coronavirus infections Friday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 262,843.
— The Russian Premier League’s season will resume June 21, the Russian Football Union (RFU) said Friday. The matches, which have been suspended since March 17, will be held without spectators.
— Yandex will end its free coronavirus testing program, the tech giant said, adding that it has carried out 20,000 of the free tests since the program began on April 20.
May 14
— Russia confirmed 9,974 new coronavirus infections Thursday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 252,245.
— Clinics in Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s coronavirus epidemic, will begin mass random testing of residents for coronavirus antibodies on Friday, the mayor said.
— President Vladimir Putin said the coronavirus outbreak was easing in Russia, after daily confirmed cases dropped back below 10,000.
“Over the past weeks, all our efforts have been aimed first and foremost at pushing back against the coronavirus epidemic,” Putin said in a televised videoconference with scientists and officials. “The situation is changing now, and this gives us an opportunity to once again focus on our current and long-term agenda.”
— Education and Science Minister Valery Falkov was diagnosed with coronavirus, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting, making him the fourth minister to catch the virus. During the meeting, Falkov said he has already recovered and returned to work.
— Clinics in Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s coronavirus epidemic, will begin mass random testing of residents for coronavirus antibodies on Friday, the mayor said. The free and voluntary testing will “show the real picture” of the epidemic’s stage, since many people may have had the virus without knowing it, Sergei Sobyanin told state television.
“Every three days we will send out 70,000 invitations to Moscow residents” to have their blood drawn at clinics, he said.
May 13
— Russia confirmed 10,028 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 242,271.
— More than 60% of deaths among Moscow’s coronavirus patients are not being counted toward the city’s official virus death toll, city health officials said.
— Russian low-cost airline Pobeda will resume its domestic flights on June 1 after suspending all its flights in late March, the RBC news website reported.
— Russia’s oldest coronavirus patient, 100-year-old Pelageya Poyarkova, has fully recovered from the illness, the Federal Biomedical Agency (FMBA) said Wednesday.
— Russia might not see its pre-coronavirus levels of tourism return until January 2021, officials said Tuesday.
— State Duma deputy Oksana Pushkina has tested positive for the coronavirus, she said.
— Nearly 1,500 doctors and healthcare workers in St. Petersburg have been infected with coronavirus since the epidemic began, Governor Alexander Beglov said.
May 12
— Russia confirmed 10,899 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 232,243.
— President Vladimir Putin has eased Russia’s “non-working” period imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus even as Russia emerges as Europe’s new coronavirus hotspot.
— Five people died in a fire in a hospital for coronavirus patients in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg, with some victims attached to ventilators, officials said.
— President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has been hospitalized with coronavirus, he told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency Tuesday.
— Starting today, Moscow residents will be required to wear face masks and gloves in all public places.
— Russian pharmacy chains are reporting shortages in thermometers, according to the Kommersant business daily.
May 11
— Russia confirmed 11,656 new coronavirus infections Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 221,344 and marking a new one-day record increase.
— Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, has extended its coronvirus lockdown until May 31 and will require its residents to wear face masks and gloves in public starting May 12.
— Russia has conducted more than 5.6 million coronavirus tests, its state consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said, or about 188,000 tests per day.
May 10
— Russia confirmed 11,012 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 209,688.
May 9
— Russia confirmed 10,817 new coronavirus infections Saturday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 198,676.
— President Vladimir Putin called for Russians to stand together on Saturday as the country marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II on lockdown over the virus. “We know and firmly believe that we are invincible when we stand together,” Putin said in a televised speech after plans for a grand Victory Day military parade in Red Square had to be postponed because of the pandemic.
— Moscow’s coronavirus lockdown has been extended until May 31, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Starting May 12, Moscow residents will be required to wear face masks and gloves in all public places and transport, Sobyanin said.
— One person died after a fire broke out in a hospital treating coronavirus patients in northern Moscow, forcing an evacuation, emergencies officials said Saturday.
May 8
— Russia confirmed 10,699 new coronavirus infections Friday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 187,859. Russia is now the fifth most-affected country in terms of infections, surpassing Germany and France on Thursday.
— Russia’s coronavirus lockdown could stay in place until a coronavirus vaccine is developed or until the pandemic ends, said Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.
— Hundreds of thousands of Moscow’s rapid antibody tests labeled as Dutch-made are unreliable at detecting the coronavirus in its early stages, meaning patients who receive false negatives could potentially infect others, a new investigation has said.
May 7
— Russia confirmed 11,231 new coronavirus infections Thursday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 177,160 and marking a new one-day record rise in infections.
— The real number of coronavirus infections in Moscow is likely around 300,000, Sobyanin said. Officially, the city has 92,676 cases.
— “I don’t want to say this, but we need to prepare for a long period surrounding the spread of the epidemic and the danger of infection. Such is reality, sadly, and we should stare this reality in the face,” he said.
— Leonid Fedun, the billionaire energy tycoon who co-founded Lukoil and owns FC Spartak Moscow, has been hospitalized with coronavirus.
May 6
— Russia confirmed 10,559 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 165,929.
— Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the third Russian cabinet official to become infected with the virus after construction minister Vladimir Yakushev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said stay-at-home restrictions would remain in place beyond May 12, but companies involved in industry and construction would be allowed to return to work that day.
— Moscow residents could be required to wear face masks in all public spaces as early as next week, the Kommersant business daily reported.
— Russian prosecutors have shot down online conspiracy theories about the coronavirus’ manmade origins as fake, the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.
— Moscow has conducted 1 million coronavirus tests since the start of its outbreak, the city’s coronavirus task force said, citing deputy mayor Anastasia Rakova. More than 40,000 tests are carried out daily. Nationwide, 4.4 million tests have been carried out.
May 5
— Russia confirmed 10,102 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 155,370.
— Three Russian journalists have died from the coronavirus, the head of Russia’s Journalists Union told Interfax. More than 100 have been hospitalized with the virus and more than 500 are self-isolating at home under the supervision of health services.
— Russia has sent medical research supplies and two mobile laboratories to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help the African country fight the coronavirus, Interfax reported.
May 4
— Russia confirmed 10,581 new coronavirus infections Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 145,268.
— Authorities in St. Petersburg have pledged to pay compensation to doctors who become infected with the coronavirus — but only after an investigation establishes their level of responsibility for getting it, according to newly adopted rules.
— Bosnia denied entry to a team of 24 Russian military medical experts who had come to the Balkan country to carry out decontamination work.
— Starting May 8, all individuals flying from Moscow to Beijing will be required to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test received 120 hours or less before departure.
— Sergei Bebenin, the speaker of the Leningrad region’s parliament, has been infected with coronavirus, Interfax reported.
— Russia has removed its ban on the export of medical masks and respirators, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told the state-run Rossia 1 news channel. He said there is no shortage of masks or other sanitary products in Russian pharmacies.
— The Russian National Guard said it is using drones and a helicopter to enforce self-isolation rules in Moscow and the Moscow region over the May holidays. The drones and helicopter will send information about violations to officers on the ground, who will then issue fines to violators.
May 3
— Russia confirmed 10,633 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 134,687 and marking a new one-day record increase.
May 2
— Russia confirmed 9,623 new coronavirus infections Saturday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 124,054 and marking a new one-day record increase.
— About 2% of Moscow residents — or more than 250,000 people — have the coronavirus, the mayor of the Russian capital said on Saturday, citing test results. Around 2,000 Moscow doctors have either recovered from or are currently ill with Covid-19, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
May 1
— Russia confirmed 7,933 new coronavirus infections Friday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 114,431 and marking a new one-day record increase.
— Half of Moscow’s coronavirus patients in serious condition have tested negative for the virus, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Thursday amid questions over the accuracy of Russia’s tests.
— Eight refrigerated containers to store the bodies of deceased coronavirus patients have been installed at hospitals in St. Petersburg, the local Fontanka.ru news website reported. The city’s health department told Fontanka that the containers aren’t being used yet and are a precautionary step in case the number of deaths rises.
— Russia could possibly tighten its coronavirus lockdown after May 11 if residents don’t follow the self-isolation rules over the May holidays, consumer protection watchdog head Anna Popova said.
— Moscow is setting up 44 temporary hospitals which will treat up to 10,000 coronavirus patients, deputy mayor Pyotr Biryukov said.
April 30
— Russia confirmed 7,099 new coronavirus infections Thursday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 106,498 and marking a new one-day record increase.
— Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been diagnosed with coronavirus, he said during a video meeting with President Vladimir Putin broadcast on the state-run Rossiya 24 television channel Thursday.
— More than 300 members of the National Guard have contracted coronavirus, the defense force said.
— Residents of the Moscow region will soon be required to wear masks in public places, the governor of the region surrounding the capital said.
— The opening of Russia’s new Orthodox mega-cathedral dedicated to the Armed Forces has been indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus, Interfax reported. The cathedral was originally scheduled to open to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over the Nazis on May 9.
April 29
— Russia confirmed 5,841 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 99,399.
— More than 1,000 Russian military personnel have tested positive for coronavirus, the Defense Ministry said.
— Moscow will start constructing temporary hospitals that will hold a total of 10,000 beds for coronavirus patients, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
— Russia will allow its nationals who hold second passports to leave the country amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to a government decree issued Wednesday.
— Konstantin Malofeyev, the billionaire often referred to as Russia’s “Orthodox tycoon,” said he has contracted the coronavirus.
— Russia has indefinitely extended its entry ban for foreigners, which was originally set to end May 1, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
— A group suspected of attempting to sell 100 counterfeit ventilators used to treat coronavirus patients have been detained after an armed confrontation outside Moscow, news outlets reported Wednesday.
April 28
— Russia confirmed 6,411 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 93,558 and marking a new one-day record increase.
— President Vladimir Putin has extended the national “non-working” month through May 11 as Russia continued to see sharp daily rises in new coronavirus infections in recent days. Moscow’s coronavirus lockdown has also been extended until May 11.
— Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has ordered the federal consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor to draft a coronavirus lockdown exit strategy for the country by Wednesday.
— More than 270 Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) workers have contracted the coronavirus, the Russian prison authority said. Its press service said that 40 inmates have tested positive for the virus nationwide.
— A priest at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius monastery in Sergiev Posad who was diagnosed with coronavirus died on Sunday two days after he escaped from the hospital and attempted to take his own life, the monastery said. Following media reports that the priest had set himself on fire, Russian Orthodox Church archpriest Leonid Kalinin told the Govorit Moskva radio station that the 90% of the priest’s body was covered in burns.
April 27
— Russia confirmed 6,198 new coronavirus infections Monday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 87,147. Russia has now surpassed China to become the world’s ninth most-affected country amid the pandemic.
— Russia’s coronavirus lockdown measures may be gradually lightened as soon as May 12 depending on how well people comply with the measures until then, the head of the federal consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.
— Russian doctors mistrustful of official coronavirus data have launched an unofficial list of their colleagues who have died from the virus.
— The republic of Karelia in northern Russia will create an interactive map of the places where confirmed coronavirus patients in the region live, including their street names and house numbers, in order for the region’s residents to avoid these places, its head Artur Parfenchikov wrote.
— The Immortal Regiment, an annual tradition in which millions of people in Russia parade with portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, will take place in an online video broadcast this year as the coronavirus has canceled Victory Day events.
— The head of a Siberian hospital repurposed for coronavirus patients is in critical condition after she fell from the hospital building following a conference call with health officials, local media reported Saturday.
— President Vladimir Putin is not waiting out the coronavirus pandemic in a bunker, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
— The Nizhny Novgorod region will ban entry into the region unless one has an emergency work permit or proof of residence there, its governor said. The region has Russia’s fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases, after Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg.
— Nearly 50 employees at the Mariinsky Hospital in St. Petersburg have tested positive for coronavirus, the local Fontanka.ru news website reported. Starting Monday, the hospital will only treat patients with coronavirus, with all other patients transferred to other hospitals.
— At least 874 Russian troops tested positive for Covid-19 between March and April 26, 19 of whom are in critical or serious condition, the Defense Ministry said.
April 26
— Russia confirmed 6,361 new coronavirus infections Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 80,949 and marking the highest one-day increase so far. Overall, 747 people have been killed by the virus.
— In St. Petersburg, four nurses have died of coronavirus this month, officials confirmed.
April 25
— Two Russian lawmakers — Leonid Kalashnikov and Dmitry Novikov, both of the Communist Party — have been infected with the coronavirus and are being treated in hospital. They are the first positive Covid-19 cases to be confirmed from among Russia’s 450-seat State Duma.
April 24
— Authorities in Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad will end the region’s coronavirus lockdown for most residents starting April 29, Governor Anton Alikhanov said, making it the first Russian region to do so. Nonessential businesses will re-open on April 29 and salons and hairdressers will re-open on May 4. All residents will be required to wear masks and observe social distancing in public.
— Moscow authorities will not ease the city’s self-isolation orders during the May holidays which include Labor Day and Victory Day, the mayor’s office said. Meanwhile, the head of Russia’s consumer health watchdog argued self-isolation should be extended by at least another two weeks, until the middle of May.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he has asked Russia’s Health Ministry and Education Ministry to prepare fourth- and fifth-year medical students to help treat coronavirus patients.
— More than 40% of Moscow’s health system is now being used in the city’s fight against coronavirus, deputy mayor for social development Anastasia Rakova said.
— All of Moscow’s doctors and nurses will take an express test to detect the presence of coronavirus antibodies and test their immunity to the virus, Rakova told reporters.
April 23
— Russia confirmed 4,774 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 62,773. Overall, 555 people have died from the virus in Russia.
— Vladislav Filev, the owner of Russian carrier S7 Airlines, has predicted that international air traffic which has been largely halted due to the pandemic will resume in April 2021.
— Russia will temporarily suspend deportations of foreigners over the next two months due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.
— More than 100,000 pregnant women will be unable to undergo medical abortions in Moscow because of restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak, the women’s rights organization Nasiliyu.net (“No to Violence”) Center has said.
— Russia’s Labor Ministry has ordered mental health facilities and nursing homes to quarantine residents and employees for two weeks in a move to fight the coronavirus outbreak, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
— Staff in the neurological department of the Lyubertsy Regional Hospital near Moscow have asked the FSB to investigate the hospital’s administration. According to the staffers, 52 doctors have been infected with coronavirus due to management’s actions.
— A hospital in the Chelyabinsk region city of Zlatoust has been quarantined after 44 patients and staff became infected with coronavirus, the region’s governor said. He added that the outbreak happened as a result of “a procedural error in providing medical assistance to one of the patients.”
April 22
— Russia confirmed 5,236 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 57,999.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned that the regions’ hospitals risk running out of beds within three to four weeks at current rates of infection.
— At least 21 Russian regions have requested digital travel passes a week after coronavirus-hit Moscow enacted its system to enforce lockdown measures and slow the deadly outbreak, the Communications and Press Ministry said Wednesday.
— The lives of thousands of Russian patients with rare diseases are in danger because the country’s hospitals are being repurposed to address the coronavirus outbreak, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday.
— The authors of Russia’s delayed domestic abuse law have asked the government to take emergency steps to protect victims during the coronavirus quarantine, the RBC news website reported.
— Russia’s mosques will close during the holy month of Ramadan, Ravil Gainutdin, the chairman of the Council of Muftis which represents Russia’s Muslim community, said on live television.
— The Khabarovsk region in Russia’s Far East has become the third region to require residents to wear face masks in public, following the Amur region and the republic of Tatarstan.
April 21
— Russia confirmed 5,642 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 57,999.
— A new Moscow hospital built in a little over a month to treat coronavirus patients has admitted its first 20 patients, the Moscow mayor’s office said Tuesday as the Russian capital continues to battle an onslaught of new cases.
— A number of unidentified African countries have asked Russia to assist them in the fight against coronavirus, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
— Authorities in Moscow will start monitoring the movements of all people showing coronavirus symptoms using their cellphone geolocation data. The city was already tracking the movements of confirmed coronavirus patients who are self-isolating at home.
— The rector of Moscow’s Yelokhovo Cathedral, Archpriest Alexander Ageykin, has reportedly died from coronavirus. His death marks the highest-level coronavirus-related death within the Russian Orthodox Church.
— Russian tech giant Yandex said that it will offer free coronavirus tests to everyone in Moscow as the city grapples with a rapid rise in infections.
April 20
— Russia confirmed 4,268 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 47,121.
— The Russian military will quarantine everyone involved in rehearsals for Russia’s postponed Victory Day Parade, the Defense Ministry said following reports that some participants have tested positive for the coronavirus.
—Around 500 demonstrators gathered in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz to protest against job losses and lack of information about the coronavirus outbreak, the MBKh News website reported Monday.
— Russians should stop coming to Crimea during the coronavirus pandemic, its Moscow-backed leader said Monday after a surge in traffic to the annexed peninsula this weekend.
— Russia has extended visas and other temporary residence permits for foreigners from March 15 to June 15 during the coronavirus pandemic that has shut national borders around the world. Putin’s act bans authorities from canceling visas and work permits, as well as from deporting and denying people refugee and temporary asylum status until June 15.
— Russia says it has so far carried out over 2 million tests nationwide.
— Authorities in Moscow are investigating the death of a woman on a bench outside her home on the day she was discharged after testing negative for the coronavirus.
— Dozens of patients and staff have been infected with the coronavirus at a psychiatric hospital in Russia’s northwestern Arkhangelsk region.
— More than half of 149 overall Covid-19 cases in central Russia’s Sverdlovsk region are concentrated in one hospital in the regional capital of Yekaterinburg, governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev said. City hospital No. 1 was placed under quarantine after 78 of its doctors and patients tested positive for the virus, Kuyvashev said on social media. Most of them are asymptomatic, he added, while one patient is in critical condition.
April 19
— Russia confirmed 6,060 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 42,853 and marking the latest one-day record in new cases.
— Millions of Russians celebrated Orthodox Easter amid the coronavirus pandemic. Russian Patriarch Kirill, who leads 150 million believers, held a service in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Church without worshippers. President Vladimir Putin did not go to a service as usual but visited a chapel at his country residence.
April 18
— Russia confirmed 4,785 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 36,793 and marking the latest one-day record in new cases.
April 17
— Russia confirmed 4,070 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 32,008 and marking the latest one-day record in new cases.
— President Vladimir Putin postponed a landmark military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of Soviet victory in World War II.
— Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak, will begin treating respiratory infections as Covid-19 as the disease shows no signs of slowing down, a senior city official has said.
— The Russian government has authorized hospitals to treat coronavirus patients with the untested Chinese malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which studies have linked to deadly side effects.
— Russian national carrier Aeroflot has closed ticket sales for all international flights until Aug. 1, the Kommersant business daily reported.
— About half of Russia’s coronavirus cases are asymptomatic, the head of consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.
— St. Petersburg can expect to see anywhere from 40,000 to 120,000 coronavirus cases by June depending on how closely residents follow lockdown orders, Alexei Borovkov, a member of the city’s coronavirus task force, has said. The city has 1,507 confirmed cases so far.
— Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry has advised against wearing face masks for regular trips outside, recommending their use only in crowded places, on public transport or when caring for a sick person.
April 16
— Russia confirmed 3,448 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 27,938 and marking the fifth consecutive one-day record in new cases.
— Russian tech giant Yandex will start delivering coronavirus tests to the homes of Moscow residents aged 65 and older. The first 10,000 tests will be delivered at no cost, the company said, and the test delivery service will later be expanded to all age groups.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin signed a decree to provide the city’s doctors with free taxi rides to and from work, as well as free hotel accommodation, during the coronavirus outbreak.
— Moscow authorities said they have switched to random checks of public transit passengers’ quarantine passes rather than checking each person’s pass after large queues formed outside metro stations during rush hour Wednesday.
— President Vladimir Putin believes the global coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity for his country to work together with the United States, the Kremlin said. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered to send ventilators to Russia.
— One-third of all coronavirus infections in the Leningrad region are concentrated in a crowded hostel that houses migrant workers involved in construction at an IKEA-owned shopping mall, local media reported.
April 15
— Russia confirmed 3,388 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 24,490 and marking the latest one-day record in new cases.
— Russian officials denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to cut Washington’s funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov calling the move a “very selfish approach” and “very disturbing.”
— President Vladimir Putin announced a new package of measures to support Russia’s businesses hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday.
— Muscovites complained of large queues outside metro stations and severe traffic jams on the first day of the city’s mandatory digital lockdown passes, prompting concern that the coronavirus could spread further.
— Russian veterans’ associations have asked Putin to postpone Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, which is set for May 9, due to the coronavirus situation. This year’s celebrations mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
— Russia’s coronavirus information center will be headed by doctor and television presenter Alexander Myasnikov, BBC Russia reported. Myasnikov previously predicted that it would be “impossible” for the virus to spread to Russia.
— The Murmansk region will use electronic bracelets to monitor the movements of coronavirus patients self-isolating at home and people suspected of having the coronavirus, the investigative Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported.
— The head of Moscow’s main coronavirus hospital has recovered from the virus two weeks after he tested positive.
April 14
— Russia confirmed 2,774 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 21,102 and marking a one-day record in new cases.
— Moscow could face a shortage of hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the next two to three weeks, the city’s health department warned. It added that an additional 24 hospitals will be converted to accommodate coronavirus patients, bringing the total number of beds to 21,000. Moscow has 13,002 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday.
— Moscow rejected 900,000 applications for digital lockdown passes in the passes’ first day of operation due to residents entering incorrect or inaccurate information, the city’s coronavirus response center said. The city issued 3.2 million passes for residents to leave their homes on Monday.
— Nine doctors at a hospital in the Moscow region have been infected with coronavirus, the RBC news website reported Tuesday. Doctors there had complained that the hospital doesn’t isolate patients suspected of having coronavirus and that there’s a shortage of personal protective equipment.
— A lack of aid for Moscow’s small and medium businesses hit by the coronavirus lockdown will lead to mass starvation and widespread protests, opposition lawmakers reportedly warned Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
— A group of liberal Russian economists called on the government to send cash payments to the public in order to avoid an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, the RBC news website reported.
— Moscow traffic police will start checking all cars entering the city for digital lockdown passes starting Wednesday.
April 13
— Russia confirmed 2,558 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 18,328 and marking the latest one-day record in new cases.
— Moscow introduced its digital pass system to allow residents to leave their homes this week. Traffic police have also been deployed at all city entry points to control movement and ask drivers why they’re entering the Russian capital during the coronavirus lockdown, according to state media.
— The coronavirus situation in Russia is worsening and the next few weeks will be “decisive” for the country, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
— China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province has tightened its border controls to prevent new coronavirus infections from neighboring Russia, Bloomberg reported. A growing number of Chinese nationals have returned from Russia with the virus, threatening a new outbreak in the country where the pandemic originated.
— The Russian Orthodox Church’s St. Petersburg diocese has ordered the city’s cathedrals to close their Holy Week and Easter services to the public and broadcast services online.
— Russian Railways will indefinitely suspend free long-distance rail travel for World War II veterans to encourage over-65s to stay home. The free travel offer had been introduced ahead of the 75th anniversary of Victory Day in May.
— More than 500 Russian writers, publishers and bookstores have signed an open letter asking the government to provide support to the book industry after the coronavirus lockdown shuttered bookstores across the. country.
April 12
— Russia confirmed 2,186 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 15,770 and marking a one-day record in new cases.
— More than half of China’s coronavirus infections reported on Sunday originated from a Russian flight to Shanghai the day before, a potential sign of the severity of Russia’s outbreak, Bloomberg reported. So far this month, China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province has reported more than 100 infections imported from Russia through its land borders.
April 11
— Russia confirmed 1,667 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 13,584 and marking a slight decrease in infections from the previous day.
April 10
— Russia confirmed 1,786 new coronavirus infections, bringing its official number of cases up to 11,917 and marking a new record one-day increase.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced additional lockdown measures from April 13-19 in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, with all nonessential business and activity suspended. Grocery stores and pharmacies will stay open, and only the government, hospitals, protective gear manufacturers and the defense sector will continue to work. All construction and maintenance work is suspended, as are car-sharing services.
— In a statement Friday, Sobyanin also said that Moscow will gradually introduce a digital pass system to enforce lockdown rules starting April 14.
— Moscow’s health department has warned the city’s clinics that many coronavirus tests return false negative results, the Kommersant business daily reported.
— President Vladimir Putin spoke with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump for the third time in two weeks, discussing the coronavirus pandemic and global oil prices.
— Moscow’s hospitals and ambulance service are working at peak capacity after a sharp rise in those hospitalized with serious coronavirus complications, a senior city official said Friday.
— A detention center east of Moscow has been placed under lockdown after the alleged death of one of its inspectors from coronavirus, the Mash Telegram channel reported.
— The Russian Orthodox Church has advised worshippers to pray at home during the Holy Week and Easter, the Church’s most important holidays.
April 9
— Russia’s number of coronavirus cases surpassed 10,000 as new infections surged. The country confirmed 1,459 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases up to 10,131 and marking a new record one-day increase.
— Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has temporarily banned Muscovites from visiting the city’s cemeteries except for those attending funerals.
— The health minister of Russia’s northwestern republic of Komi has resigned after the remote region became one of the country’s hotspots for the coronavirus.
— Moscow is planning to track foreign tourists’ movements through smartphone geolocation for coronavirus prevention after Russia reopens its national borders, the Kommersant business daily reported.
— Coronavirus patients in Moscow have started to receive blood plasma transfusions from recovered patients, the city’s deputy mayor for social development said. Blood plasma from coronavirus survivors has been found to help current patients recover from the virus.
— Russia’s consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnazdor said that more than 1 million coronavirus tests have been carried out across the country.
April 8
— Russia confirmed 1,175 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 8,672 and marking a new record one-day increase in infections.
— Putin has ordered the government to automatically renew documents for Russian citizens, including passports and driver’s licenses, for as long as the coronavirus situation persists. Speaking at a televised conference, he also ordered the government to create a business support program within five days and said doctors will receive a monthly bonus while dealing with the pandemic.
— Moscow police will now be able to directly issue fines to residents who violate lockdown orders, according to an agreement between the Interior Ministry and the city government.
— Russia has now sent coronavirus test kits to more than 30 countries, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting of the government’s coronavirus task force.
— Russian Railways will reduce the number of Sapsan high-speed trains between Moscow and St. Petersburg to four per day in each direction amid reduced demand due to the coronavirus.
— The airport in Grozny, the capital of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, will require all passengers arriving from Moscow to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test starting April 11.
— Moscow City Duma deputy Mikhail Timonov has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus. He had attended city council meetings as recently as April 1, when it voted to impose fines on Muscovites who violate lockdown orders.
April 7
— Russia confirmed 1,154 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s number of cases up to 7,497 and marking a new record one-day increase in infections.
— The head of a top Russian research center told Putin that his lab was ready to start human trials of experimental coronavirus vaccines in June.
— 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 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.
— 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
— 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. He added that he would delegate the decisionmaking power on anti-coronavirus measures to regional authorities.
— 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 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.
— 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.
April 2
— Russia confirmed 771 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 3,548 and marking a record one-day increase in infections.
— Sobyanin signed a law imposing fines on Muscovites found to be violating the city’s self-isolation orders. Individuals will be fined up to 4,000 rubles ($50) for first-time offenses and up to 5,000 rubles ($63) for repeat offenses. Businesses will be fined up to 40,000 rubles ($500) for violating the order. Legal entities will be fined up to 300,000 rubles ($3,800) for first-time offenses and up to 500,000 rubles ($6,300) for repeat offenses.
— The United States purchased medical supplies from Russia to battle the deadly coronavirus outbreak in the country, the State Department said, contradicting the Kremlin’s description of the shipment as humanitarian aid.
— Russia could close to the public or reschedule its annual parade in Red Square that commemorates the Soviet victory in World War II due to the coronavirus pandemic, the RBC news website reported.
— The Nizhny Novgorod region has launched a QR code pass system to allow residents to leave their homes for essential reasons. Moscow has announced it is developing a similar pass system for its 12 million residents but hasn’t launched it yet.
— One of Moscow’s leading cancer hospitals, the Blokhin Cancer Center, has stopped admitting patients to chemotherapy sessions after one of the department’s medics tested positive for coronavirus. All of the chemotherapy department’s employees have been quarantined and its patients are under special supervision, the hospital said.
— Russia’s state statistics service Rosstat has said it may postpone this year’s census until 2021 due to the coronavirus.
April 1
— Putin 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.
— Russia confirmed 440 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 2,777.
— Russia has earmarked almost $18 billion to battle the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin during a televised video conference with his cabinet.
— Moscow authorities have developed a QR code system to allow residents to leave their homes as well as a smartphone app to monitor coronavirus patients’ movement in self-isolation, the city’s IT chief said Wednesday after tech experts raised privacy questions.
— President Vladimir Putin is now practicing social distancing with everyone and doesn’t shake hands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He has also started holding meetings remotely.
— A nurse at a police hospital in the Lipetsk region has potentially infected eight of her colleagues with the coronavirus after she returned to work with symptoms instead of self-isolating, the Kommersant business daily reported. Lipetsk region governor Igor Artamonov condemned what he said was “criminal negligence” in a statement.
— Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, the capital’s main transport hub, has closed a third terminal due to reduced air traffic caused by the coronavirus, leaving three terminals open.
— Russia will extend its suspension of football matches in the face of the coronavirus pandemic until May 31, the Russian football association (RFS) said.
— Several regions of Russia have imposed limits on alcohol sales during their self-isolation regimes. Some cities in Siberia’s republic of Sakha, including Yakutsk, have banned the sale of alcohol altogether.
— Russia’s consumer protection watchdog has ordered quotas on the number of Russians being returned from abroad per day, the Kommersant business daily reported, a move that the Foreign Ministry said “immediately complicated, and in some places paralyzed, the process of returning” the approximately 35,000 Russians seeking to return.
March 31
— Russia confirmed 500 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases up to 2,337 and marking its sevent consecutive one-day record in new cases.
— Denis Protsenko, the head doctor at the infectious diseases hospital treating Moscow’s coronavirus patients, has tested positive with the virus, the state-run Rossia 24 television station reported. He was photographed shaking hands with President Vladimir Putin six days ago.
— A Russian plane carrying medical equipment and protective gear has departed for the coronavirus-hit United States. U.S. President Donald Trump had said earlier that Russia sent a “very, very large planeload” of medical aid. “Trump accepted this humanitarian aid with gratitude,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
— The Justice Ministry has proposed suspending registrations of marriage and divorce in Russia until at least June 1 in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
March 30
— Moscow has enacted a citywide quarantine from Monday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said as the city’s number of coronavirus cases surpassed 1,000 over the weekend. 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.
— Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg announced stay-at-home orders for their residents following Moscow’s quarantine.
— Moscow’s self-isolation order will be active through April 14, the city’s coronavirus crisis center said. It later deleted the statement from its Telegram channel.
— 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 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.
— Several regions of Russia have enacted region-wide stay-at-home orders for residents, following suit with Moscow’s quarantine:
