TSKHINVAL, September 18./TASS/. Russian medics arrived on Friday in South Ossetia to help in their partners’ fight against the spread of coronavirus, the press service of the republic's Ministry of Health and Social Development told TASS.
Three medics from North Ossetian State Medical Academy arrived "to assess the situation together with South Ossetian colleagues and offer assistance in organizing preemptive measures and medical assistance amid the spread of COVID-19," the press service said.
It specified that these specialists had worked in the wake of the pandemic, developing algorithms for treating patients. With the reopening of the state border between Russia and South Ossetia, measures have been stepped up to prevent the spread of the infection among the population, the South Ossetian sanitary watchdog said.
According to it, 90 coronavirus cases have been reported in the republic overall, all patients have recovered.
On September 15, South Ossetia reopened its border with Russia. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also signed an instruction on border reopening on Tuesday. Border restrictions were imposed early in April amid the coronavirus pandemic. South Ossetia’s citizens who had remained abroad had an opportunity to return after turning to South Ossetia’s consulate in Russia’s North Ossetia. After crossing the border, they were placed in 14-day quarantine.
Exceptions were made for the cargo transport supplying food, medicines and construction materials to the republic. A special schedule for border crossing was established for these vehicles.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed 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 30,373,800 people have been infected worldwide and more than 950,900 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 22,058,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.