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Airports, train stations should tighten control on Saturday, Sunday over coronavirus - PM

Russia limited flights to all the European Union countries, and to Switzerland and Norway starting at 00.00 on March 16

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered to tighten control at border checkpoints, airports and train stations on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15 to mitigate the coronavirus spread.

"I ask to further tighten control across all the regions, at border checkpoints, airports and stations both for our citizens and foreigners over the weekend, or the two days off," he said at the strategic session of the council coordinating anti-coronavirus efforts.

The prime minister recalled the earlier preventive measures.

"Both the government and the task force alongside regional [authorities] have imposed a wide range of restrictions in advance, which helped to contain the spread of infection across Russia," Mishustin said, citing reduced flights to the European Union as the priority measure.

"In fact, we limited flights to all the European Union countries, and to Switzerland and Norway starting at 00.00 on March 16. It will help to mitigate the risk of coronavirus spread."

In late December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, an economic and industrial megacity with a population of 12 million. After the coronavirus broke out of China’s Hubei province, it spread across China and then around the world affecting more than 120 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the outbreak as a pandemic.

According to the WHO data, around 137,000 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed up to now. The virus’ death toll has surpassed over 5,000. Russia has confirmed 59 coronavirus cases.

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