Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said today that the Russian authorities are in full control of the Wuhan coronavirus situation in the country.
"All necessary measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the infection in our country, a response team has been established and the situation is under control," he stressed.
Mishustin noted that he had already signed a special national plan to fight the virus. The PM said that Russia may deport foreign citizens found to be infected with coronavirus.
He also proposed postponing the Russian Investment Forum 2020 in the Black Sea city of Sochi, scheduled for Feb. 12-14.
The Russian PM added that it was decided to send humanitarian aid to China to fight the infection.
A decree was signed yesterday on including the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV in the list of diseases posing a threat to Russian citizens.
Russia's first two cases of the virus were reported last week and said the infected people were Chinese citizens who had been isolated.
As the new coronavirus that has killed more than 360 people in China continues to spread around the world, Russia has stepped up measures to tackle the health risk, including closing most entry points along its 4,200-kilometer border.
In a bid to contain the outbreak, Russia has also banned Chinese tour groups from coming to Russia and stopped issuing e-visas to Chinese citizens. Demand for face masks in Russia has risen thirteenfold over the past week.
The state emergency response team was formed in Russia last week to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading into the country.
The new strain of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus — 2019-nCoV — was reportedly first detected in Wuhan in December 2019 and has since spread to more than 20 countries. The virus has already killed over 361 people in China and one person in the Philippines and infected about 17,205 others, prompting authorities from various countries to evacuate their nationals from virus-affected areas.
