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Coronavirus pandemic

International flights evacuating Russians from abroad to be suspended from April 4

The Russian government will also elaborate a schedule for evacuating those Russian nationals who are stuck in foreign countries amid the coronavirus pandemic

© Tatyana Belyakova/TASS

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. International flights evacuating Russian national from foreign countries will be stopped from 00:00 Moscow time on April 4, the coronavirus response headquarters said on Friday.

"In order to ensure maximum protection of people’s health and prevent a new wave of imported coronavirus cases in Russia, international flights evacuating Russian nationals will be temporarily suspended from 00:00 Moscow time on April 4, 2020," it said.

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The Russian government will also elaborate a schedule for evacuating those Russian nationals who are stuck in foreign countries amid the coronavirus pandemic. "Russian nationals who have provided necessary data will be offered social assistance during their stay in foreign countries," the headquarters said.

Apart from that, their visas will be extended. "If need be, documents under which our nationals are staying abroad will be extended," it said.

It also said that the Russian government had allocated 500 million rubles (6.52 million US dollars) to the Russian foreign ministry to provide accommodation to Russian nationals stuck in foreign countries.

As of April 3, a total of 4,149 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia. As many as 282 patients have recovered. According to data as of 10:30 Moscow time, thirty-four patients died. Moscow accounts for the majority of cases (2,923). The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public informed about the coronavirus situation.

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