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Moscow authorities close entertainment venues due to coronavirus

The Moscow mayor pointed out that the coronavirus situation was getting more and more difficult

© Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Nightclubs, movie theaters, children’s playrooms and other entertainment venues will be closed in Moscow, the city’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a decree published on the Moscow government’s website on Wednesday.

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Putin to address nation on coronavirus

Sobyanin pointed out in his blog that as the coronavirus situation was getting more and more difficult, there was a need to minimize non-essential contacts between people. About 1.9 mln elderly Muscovites, as well as those chronically ill, are obliged to self-isolate at home between March 26 and April 14.

In addition, the city’s libraries and other cultural facilities will also be temporarily closed.

At the same time, retail stores, banks and household services located in shopping malls will remain open. However, the mayor also prohibited animators from working with kids at shopping malls and banned promotion campaigns.

Coronavirus pandemic

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in more than 150 countries, including Russia.

On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. As of now, over 410,000 people have been infected around the world and more than 18,000 have died. Russia has identified 658 cases, 29 patients have recovered. The Russian government has launched an Internet hotline to keep the country’s people informed about the coronavirus situation.

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