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Russian foreign ministry establishes task force to combat spread of coronavirus

Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reminded that earlier, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin had established a coronavirus prevention task force headed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova

MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry has established a task force with the aim to combat the spread of novel coronavirus, the ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during Wednesday’s briefing.

The diplomat reminded that earlier, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin had established a coronavirus prevention task force headed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry contributes to the work of this task force along with other competent federal bodies," she said. "The Russian Foreign Ministry has also established a task force coordinating efforts in this area."

Zakharova noted that Russian diplomatic missions abroad are providing up-to-date information to Russian citizens regarding the spread of the virus. "Russia’s embassies and consulate generals in China are carefully monitoring the situation, maintaining contact with Russian citizens located in the areas where the disease is spreading."

On December 31, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan - a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. The source of the outbreak is the COVID-19 coronavirus. The disease spread to 24 more countries apart from China - Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, India, Italy, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a global health emergency.

Currently, the total number of people infected with coronavirus exceeded 44,600 in China with over 1,100 people reported to have died from the disease. Meanwhile, over 4,700 people are said to have recovered from it.