Dear friends! Dear citizens of Russia!

The week ends, which was declared non-working in Russia. At the same time, doctors, nurses, all staff of medical institutions continue to work in a tense regime.

It is very difficult for all of them now. They are the ones in hospitals and infectious diseases departments, at all medical sites, who are defending themselves against the coming epidemic: they treat, save people, and prevent the onset and development of the disease. I am sure that all citizens of the country will join the words of heartfelt gratitude to our medical workers.

Employees of other areas vital to the country and society are also doing their duty these days. I would also like to sincerely thank you - all of you, without exception.

And of course, to say thanks to volunteers, volunteers, caring people, all citizens who have realized, felt their personal responsibility in the fight against the epidemic, strictly comply with the recommendations of the authorities and medical specialists, take care of themselves, the health of relatives and friends, and the safety of others.

  • AGN "Moscow"

The non-working week announced throughout the country, as well as the self-isolation regime provided for residents of many regions, allowed us to gain time for proactive actions, for mobilizing all authorities, for building up the resources of the health system in order to deal with the epidemic as efficiently as possible, using how our own experience and the best practices of other countries.

What I consider to be fundamentally important: as a whole, we still manage to protect older people from a serious threat, to prevent an outbreak of the epidemic in kindergartens and schools, universities and other educational institutions.

Naturally, the question arises of what needs to be done next, what our decisions will be. I emphasize: accepting them, we need to understand that the threat persists. According to virologists, the peak of the epidemic in the world has not yet been passed, including in our country.

In this regard, I decided to extend the day off until the end of the month, that is, until April 30 inclusive. I emphasize - while retaining their wages for employees.

However, the situation is changing, and in different regions, even in their individual municipalities, it also develops differently. We have a large, very large country, different population density, there are subjects of the federation where the coronavirus has already created a serious threat to people, for example, in Moscow, where it’s still not possible to turn the tide, despite the measures taken by federal and city authorities. And there are regions, which, unfortunately, are less and less, where it has not yet been fixed, thank God, not a single case of the disease.

Therefore, somewhere more stringent restrictions must be observed, and somewhere, while maintaining a high level of readiness, now local, point solutions are enough. These features must be considered.

In this regard, the subjects, heads of subjects of the federation will, according to my decree, be given additional powers. Until the end of this week, they will have to determine a specific set of preventive measures that are optimal for their territories, both in terms of ensuring health, human security, and the sustainability of the economy and key infrastructure.

That is, I repeat, the regions themselves, largely based on the objective situation, will decide which regime in the subject of the federation or in its individual municipalities is introduced in accordance with the decree of the President of Russia, which institutions and organizations should suspend their activities and which can continue it with strict security of citizens.

I add that as before, authorities, enterprises with continuous production, medical institutions and pharmacies, convenience stores, all life support services will work.

In the event that there is a need for additional restrictions for systemically important enterprises, as well as for educational, scientific organizations, the regions will be obliged to coordinate this decision with the federal government.

Today it is extremely important to ensure interaction between different levels of government: federal, regional, municipal. Therefore, he instructed his authorized representatives in the federal districts to closely coordinate the work of the regions. All information should go to the coordinating council under the government of the Russian Federation for the fight against coronavirus, be processed there, analyzed and taken into account when making decisions.

And of course, the actions of regional authorities must be coordinated with the sanitary and epidemiological services. The main, unconditional criterion is the security, health and safety of Russian citizens.

Taking into account the development of the situation, we will make additional decisions, and if the situation allows, we will adjust the announced period of forced non-working days in the direction of its reduction.

What else I want to say and what else I want to emphasize. In implementing measures to combat the epidemic, we must not forget that it is just as important, it is important now to maintain jobs and incomes of citizens. This is a common priority for government, regions, business. An efficient, stable economy is at the heart of solving our key tasks, including in the healthcare sector.

Dear citizens of Russia! I ask you to continue to be extremely attentive to the requirements of the authorities and the recommendations of doctors and specialists, to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Extremely important, in some cases decisive, were and remain our common responsibility and mutual support. Even the short time of this week showed that when we understand the complexity of the situation, we manage to reduce the risks. I am sure that we will continue to act in the same coordinated and reliable manner. And most importantly - ahead of the curve.

Thank you for your attention. Be healthy.