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Agencies

The Russian government has ordered the civil aviation authority to suspend all regular and charter flights to and from Russia from March 27, the government said on its website.
Russian airlines will still be allowed to fly to other countries to bring Russian citizens back or if they are authorised by special government decisions.
The grounding starts at midnight Friday, or 2100 GMT Thursday.
The announcement came after Russia on Wednesday recorded its biggest daily spike in confirmed coronavirus infections so far, with 163 new cases for a total of 658 across the country.


The new measures do not apply to domestic flights within Russia. The government said Russians who were unable to return due to restrictions imposed by countries they are in should take measures to stay safe.


Russia already closed its borders to foreigners last week. Earlier in March, Russia limited flights to and from the European Union.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he would shortly announce harsher measures for the capital, saying he wants to close parks, cafes, restaurants and malls next week.
Concern has risen as the number of cases steadily grows, particularly in its capital and largest city, Moscow.
Russian workers race to finish ‘Chinese-inspired’ hospital
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with top officials to discuss containment measures on Tuesday, putting on a yellow hazmat suit as he visited a major hospital treating coronavirus patients.
Russia’s comparatively low number of cases given its size and shared border with China raised questions and doubts about the veracity of official statistics.
Denis Protsenko, head doctor of Moscow’s new hospital treating coronavirus patients, told Putin that Russia needed to be ready for an “Italian” scenario, referring to what is now the hardest-hit country in the world in terms of deaths.

Italy has been the hardest-hit nation in Europe with more than 74,386 infections and over 7,500 deaths.
“If there is a big spike, and Moscow is headed there, our hospital is ready to transform,” he said.
Russian lawmakers have proposed imposing severe punishments – including up to seven years in prison – for people breaking coronavirus quarantine rules.
Chinese targeted in Russia raids as coronavirus fears spread
Putin didn’t say if the coronavirus outbreak could prompt the Kremlin to scale down or cancel the May 9 celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Russia has planned a massive parade in Red Square to mark the nation’s most important holiday to be attended by foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In Russia’s capital and largest city, Moscow, restaurants, malls, parks and other public places will be closed for nine days starting on Saturday in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the measures as “unprecedented” and “absolutely necessary to hinder the spread of the coronavirus,” according to a statement published on his website on Thursday.
The city will still allow deliveries of food and other products, the statement said. Grocery stores and pharmacies were to remain open.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press

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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus: Russia to ground international flights after doctor’s ‘Italy scenario’ warning to Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin, wearing a yellow protective suit, visits a hospital for Covid-19 patients. Photo: EPA

An Aeroflot plane before departure from Beijing to Moscow. Photo: AFP

Coronavirus: Russian workers race to finish ‘Chinese-inspired’ hospital

An aerial view of the construction site for the new hospital outside Moscow, on Thursday. Photo: Sputnik via Xinhua

epa08306700 Workers carry a cable for a temporarily infection hospital for patients with coronavirus disease Covid-19, which urgently built outside Moscow, Russia, 19 March 2020. The hospital capacity will be 500 patients and it is planned to finish construction within a month since the beginning. Russian officials report about 199 infected by virus SARS-CoV-2. One elderly woman with diagnose Covid-19 died, but from another problem. EPA-EFE/SERGEI CHIRIKOV

A view shows the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients infected with the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in the village of Golokhvastovo, some 50 kms outside Moscow, on March 17, 2020. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

Chinese targeted in Russia raids as coronavirus fears spread

Chinese employees of a cafe wear protective masks delivered by Russian Cossacks in the Urals' city of Yekaterinburg, Russia. Photo: AP

In this file photo taken on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, Medical workers prepare to check passengers arriving from Beijing at the Yaroslavsky railway station in Moscow, Russia. Russian authorities are going to great lengths to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading in the capital and elsewhere. In Moscow, city officials announced a slew of policies aimed at tracking down the few Chinese nationals remaining in the city, including raids on hotels and the use of facial recognition technology to target people evading quarantine. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

Russian authorities are going to great lengths to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading in the capital and elsewhere. Photo: AP

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Russia recorded its biggest daily spike in confirmed coronavirus infections so far
Doctor warns Putin that Russia needed to prepare for an ‘Italian scenario’



Announcement came after Russia recorded its biggest daily spike in confirmed coronavirus infections so far.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Russia

Aviation

Coronavirus: Russia to ground international flights after doctor’s ‘Italy scenario’ warning to Putin

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Russia recorded its biggest daily spike in confirmed coronavirus infections so far Doctor warns Putin that Russia needed to prepare for an ‘Italian scenario’

Russia recorded its biggest daily spike in confirmed coronavirus infections so far

Doctor warns Putin that Russia needed to prepare for an ‘Italian scenario’