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Two-thirds of Russian regions enforce additional restrictions amid pandemic

Fifty-three regions were placed under lockdown, while restrictions are in place in Yakutia for certain localities

MOSCOW, March31. /TASS/. Two-thirds of the Russian regions have enforced additional restrictive measures for their residents the way Moscow and the Moscow Region did earlier.

Fifty-three regions were placed under lockdown, while restrictions are in place in Yakutia for certain localities. The Amur Region has imposed quarantine measures for people older than 65 and those in the risk group due to health problems.

Chechnya was declared a quarantine zone, the region has closed its border for entry and people are not allowed to leave their houses without necessity. The Krasnodar Region imposed quarantine restrictions from 18:00 Moscow time on Tuesday.

On March 29, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov expanded high alert measures by signing respective orders. The new steps particularly stipulate self-isolation for all citizens of all ages unless they require urgent medical help, food or medicines or head to work if they still need to be there physically. According to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, these measures are logical and in line with the restrictive measures proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Monday, Mishustin suggested that heads of all Russian regions should impose measures similar to those introduced in Moscow.

On Tuesday afternoon, 16 more regions joined the lockdown list. These are Buryatia, Kalmykia, Udmurt Region, the Altai Republic, the Altai Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, Kemerovo, Samara, Pskov, Voronezh, Tomsk, Kirov, Irkutsk, Kurgan, Bryansk and Penza regions. Earlier, the self-isolation regime for citizens of all ages was imposed in 37 regions, including the Moscow and St. Petersburg regions.

All residents of these regions are ordered to stay home and can go out only to call at a nearby drug store or supermarket, walk the pet, as well as dispose garbage and travel to work if they cannot work from home on official days off declared nationwide between March 28 and April 5.

Before the end of the day, restrictions will also be imposed in the Stavropol Region, while from April 1 they will be in place in Khakassia, the Volgograd Region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Khabarovsk Region and the Krasnoyarsk Region. The Perm Region will enforce them from April 2.

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, in central China. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. To date, more than 786,600 people have been infected worldwide and over 37,800 have died, while more than 165,800 have recovered.

So far, a total of 2,337 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, while 121 patients have recovered. Moscow accounts for the majority of cases (1,613). According to current data, on March 31 12:00 Moscow time, 17 fatalities were recorded. The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public informed about the coronavirus situation.