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Coronavirus pandemic

Russia to test everyone returning from Europe for COVID-19

The order proposes to carry out tests for COVID-19 at airports

© Yevgeny Sofiychuk/TASS

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Head of the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare Anna Popova ordered Russian regional heads to test everyone returning from Europe to Russia in the past 14 days for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the document in possession of TASS informs.

Read also

Russia imposes entry ban for foreigners from March 18 to May 1 over coronavirus risks

"To ensure that all people who have returned from Europe in the past two weeks or who arrived with a stopover in a European state are tested for COVID-19, along with all persons who have returned from abroad in the past month and sought medical aid due to having cold symptoms," the document says.

The document also rules to establish the procedure of lab testing among persons with no symptoms of the virus and those who have not come into contact with coronavirus-infected persons. The order proposes to carry out tests for COVID-19 at airports.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. On March 11, WHO officially characterized the situation with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic. The disease has spread to over 130 countries. According to official data, over 170,000 people have been infected with the virus globally, and about 7,000 have died. There are 93 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Russia.

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