Over 10,000 People under Surveillance over Coronavirus

At least 11,000 people that entered Russia from China are being monitored regarding the coronavirus, TASS reports citing the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor).

“From February 1, 2020, a separate terminal has been allocated and prepared under the supervision of Rospotrebnadzor at the Sheremetyevo Airport, the only airport in the country currently accepting flights from China. Laboratory examination has been set up for all people arriving from China, as well as surveying and transfer under medical supervision at the place of residence. As of February 23, 2020, 10,825 people are still being monitored,” the report said.

It was noted that all hygiene and epidemiology centers of the service in Russian regions have diagnostic test systems to detect the virus. “As of February 23, 2020, 25,060 laboratory studies were carried out by the centers of hygiene and epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for coronavirus using samples of people arriving from China,” the report said.

On December 31, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan – a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 12 million people. The source of the outbreak is the COVID-19 coronavirus. Cases of COVID-19 have been detected in at least 27 countries, including Russia. The WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a global health emergency. Currently, the total number of people infected with the novel coronavirus exceeds 78,700 with over 2,400 reported deaths, mostly in China. Meanwhile, over 23,000 patients have recovered to date.