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Coronavirus pandemic

Russia’s upper house approves major fines for healthy citizens’ quarantine violation

Citizens will face a fine of between 15,000 rubles ($200) and 40,000 rubles ($500) for violating quarantine measures provoking further spread of disease

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) has convened for an urgent plenary meeting and approved amendments to the Russian Code of Administrative Offences introducing fines of up to 300,000 rubles ($3,800) for citizens who break quarantine rules when not infected by diseases or viruses.

In accordance with the document, citizens will face a fine of between 15,000 rubles ($200) and 40,000 rubles ($500) for violating quarantine measures provoking further spread of disease. Officials have their fines set between 50,000 rubles ($635) and 150,000 rubles ($1,900), while legal entities will have to pay between 200,000 rubles ($2,500) and 500,000 rubles ($6,350) or face administrative suspension of their business activities of up to 30 days.

If these violations resulted in health complications or death of other people but do not qualify as a crime, then fines will increase for all categories: citizens will be fined between 150,000 rubles ($1,900) and 300,000 rubles ($3,800), officials will pay between 300,000 rubles ($3,800) and 500,000 rubles ($6,350), while legal entities will face a fine of between 500,000 rubles ($6,350) and 1 million rubles ($12,700) or face administrative suspension of their business activities of up to 90 days.

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In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in more than 160 countries, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. To date, more than 786,600 people have been infected worldwide and over 37,800 have died, while more than 165,800 have recovered.

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