MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Russia will be providing assistance to Belarus in fighting the coronavirus epidemic, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV Channel on Wednesday.

"We, as before, will be providing the required assistance and aid to the fraternal people of the Republic of Belarus," the vice premier said.

In particular, Russian Healthcare Minister Mikhail Murashko called up his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Karanik on April 21. Both health ministers discussed the tactic of treating coronavirus patients and agreed to continue interaction, the vice premier informed.

"No additional requests were received," she added. 

Also, on April 5, Russia repatriated 10 Belarusian citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan. One of them was in a severe form and received required medical assistance on the territory of Russia. Now he and other Belarusian citizens have been sent home in a satisfactory condition, Abramchenko said.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials 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 every corner of the globe.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,500,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 177,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 696,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, a total of 57,999 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 4,420 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 513 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.