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Coronavirus pandemic

Over 116,000 coronaviorus tests conducted in Russia

A total of 93 cases have been confirmed in Russia so far

© Yevgeny Sofiychuk/TASS

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. More than 116,000 novel coronavirus tests have been conducted by Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), the watchdog’s press service reported on Tuesday.

"As of March 16, 2020, 116,061 laboratory studies have been carried out by Rospotrebnadzor’s hygiene and epidemiology centers in Russia’s entities on the presence of the novel coronavirus in the material from people arriving from countries with the unfavorable coronavirus situation," the press service said.

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Almost 14,000 new coronavirus cases registered worldwide in past day

It also noted that all of the diagnostic laboratories of the Russian watchdog had all necessary equipment and specialists to use the developed diagnostic tools.

An outbreak of the new coronavirus-related disease was registered in central China at the end of December 2019. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. COVID-19 infection cases have been registered in more than 130 countries. According to official statistics, over 170,000 people have contracted the virus. More than 6,000 of them have died. A total of 93 cases have been confirmed in Russia so far.

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