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Coronavirus pandemic

Lower house expands Russian government’s powers

These include declaring a state of emergency throughout the country or in some of its regions

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) passed a bill in the first reading at a meeting on Tuesday vesting the government with additional powers because of the coronavirus pandemic, including declaring a state of emergency throughout the country or in some of its regions.

"It is proposed to empower the Russian government to impose a state of alert or declare a state of emergency throughout the Russian Federation or in some of its parts as well as establish mandatory rules of conduct during a state of alert or a state of emergency, " the explanatory note to the bill says.

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Russians to be fined up to $3,800 for breaking coronavirus quarantine

At the same time, the Cabinet will be entitled to restrict trade in certain medical goods for 90 days and impose a moratorium on initiating bankruptcy proceedings. Support for travel agencies is envisaged as well. The government is also empowered to establish in 2020 cases of the possibility of single source procurement.

So far, a total of 1,836 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia. Sixty-six patients have recovered. Moscow accounts for the majority of cases (1,226). According to current data, on March 30, 12:00 Moscow time, nine fatalities were recorded. Coronavirus-related deaths were reported in Moscow, the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, and the Vladimir Region. The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public informed about the coronavirus situation.

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