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Half of Russian regions impose restrictions over coronavirus

Among them are the Far East’s Primorsky and Transbaikal Regions, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Regions

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Half of Russian regions have imposed restrictions for citizens over the coronavirus following the example of Moscow and the Moscow Region, according to the legal acts signed by regional authorities.

Among the regions where authorities have introduced full self-isolation for citizens of all ages are the Far East’s Primorsky and Transbaikal Regions, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Regions. Similar measures have been announced in the Magadan, Novosibirsk, Arkhangelsk, Vologodsk, Kaliningrad, Novgorod, Murmansk, Sverdlovsk, Kursk, Lipetsk, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Rostov, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Sakhalin, Chelyabinsk and Vladimir Regions. Citizens in the republics of Komi, Mari El, Mordovia, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and Tuva have been also required to go into self-isolation.

All citizens of these regions are only allowed to leave their homes to go to and back from work (if they cannot switch to remote work), to visit the nearest food store or pharmacy, to dispose garbage and to walk a dog within 100 meters from the house.

On March 29, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov extended the high alert measures, introduced earlier. The new measures require self-isolation for people of all ages, with the exception of emergency medical assistance and grocery shopping. People are also allowed to commute to work, if their work hasn't been suspended. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted that the steps taken in these two regions could be extended to other Russian regions.

So far, authorities of 35 Russian regions have introduced full self-isolation for citizens of all ages, while five other regions have imposed a lockdown for people above 65 or for certain settlements. The toughest measures have been declared in the Chechen Republic. Since March 28, the authorities in this North Caucasus region have tightened quarantine measures, limiting traffic through administrative borders and also introducing restrictions on movement in the republic and entering the capital of Grozny for all individuals except for its citizens, officials and staff of vital enterprises, food suppliers and the media.

Russia has reported 2,337 coronavirus cases, including 1,613 in Moscow, 17 fatalities and 121 recoveries. The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public informed about the coronavirus situation.