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Nearly all Russian governors planning gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, says Putin

To date, 687,862 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 454,329 patients having recovered from the disease

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin informed that nearly all heads of Russian regions are planning to lift the restrictions introduced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in a gradual manner, as the situation is improving.

"They [the governors] will decide whether to lift these restrictions. This is not due to the fact that the air travel industry is going through a difficult time, this is due to the improving situation," he said during a meeting with Aeroflot head Vitaly Savelyev.

Putin said that the governors are interested in filling the hotels in their regions as well. "Nearly all heads and governors are reporting that they are planning to lift restrictions gradually, stage by stage," the Russian leader said in response to Savelyev’s claim that people who bought tickets for domestic flights are forced to cancel their trips due to quarantine restrictions at their destinations.

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. According to the latest statistics, over 11,572,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 537,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 6,543,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, 687,862 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 454,329 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 10,296 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.