All news

Russian State Duma may hold parliamentary hearing on coronavirus on Feb 17

Experts would be invited to the hearing to answer the burning questions related to the virus "in order to calm people down somehow and develop solutions"

MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. The Russian State Duma (lower house) may hold a parliamentary hearing on the outbreak of coronavirus on February 17, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin told reporters on Monday.

"We have agreed to hold a parliamentary hearing on this issue," Volodin said. "We will try our best to hold the hearing on February 17."

The hearing is organized by the Russian State Duma Committee on Health Protection. "This is an issue on our agenda; the committee on health protection is monitoring it. <…> We think it would be right to discuss this issue, especially considering the extent to which the public is afraid of this situation. People do not know how to behave and what to do," Volodin noted.

The speaker said that experts would be invited to the hearing to answer the burning questions related to the virus "in order to calm people down somehow and develop solutions." The speaker pointed out that the situation is alarming; however, the issue is under the control of the Russian government.

On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the city of Wuhan - a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. The city has since been closed off for entry and exit. Foreign states are evacuating their citizens from Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.

The number of people infected with 2019-nCoV in China has exceeded 17,000, with 361 recorded deaths. On Sunday, the Philippines recorded the first death from novel coronavirus outside of China.

Cases of coronavirus have been detected in 23 countries outside of China, including Russia. On January 30, WHO declared an international public health emergency over the outbreak of 2019-nCoV.