MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus cases registered in Russia has risen from 17 to 20 over the past 24 hours, Russia’s emergency response center reported on Monday, adding that the three infected persons are currently staying in Moscow, all visited Italy over the past two weeks.
"Over the past 24 hours, in Russia three cases of Russian citizens infected with the coronavirus have been registered in the city of Moscow," the emergency response center said, adding that all of them had visited Italy over the past two weeks. All those hospitalized stay under medical observation, it noted.
"In Russia, 20 coronavirus cases have been registered as of today, with two being the citizens of the People’s Republic of China, 17 Russian citizens that have returned from Italy, and one Italian," the report said.
A pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center with a population of 12 million, in late December. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with "multiple foci." Outside China, major coronavirus outbreaks have been reported in South Korea, Italy, and Iran. The cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in almost 100 countries, including Russia. In China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, more than 3,100 people have died, over 80,700 have been infected and another 58,600 have recovered. The number of novel coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed 100,000, with the death tall slightly exceeding 3,800 people, according to the figures provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).