MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. Russia’s government has approved the procedure of assistance to the compatriots who cannot return back to the country at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the resolution posted on the government site on Saturday.
"The attached regulations on social support (assistance) to the Russian citizens staying on the territory of a foreign country and unable to return to the Russian Federation amidst the spread of the novel coronavirus shall be approved," the document says.
The resolution says that the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media was assigned to create and control an online application form on the portal of public services for people in need and to daily inform the Foreign and Interior Ministries that are to verify the information and take decisions about the assistance. The Foreign Ministry is instructed to forward the lists of the Russian citizens who have received aid to the Federal Tax Service and to the Federal Security Service.
The resolution was said to be effective immediately.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. To date, more than 1,000,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 53,000 deaths have been reported. That said, over 213,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
So far, a total of 4,731 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 333 patients having recovered from the virus. Moscow handles the bulk of the cases (3,357). The country’s latest data indicates 43 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.