Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin warned employers against dismissals amid the prevalence of coronavirus infection COVID-19.

At a government meeting on economic issues, the head of the cabinet indicated that dismissal in this situation could only be a last resort.

“Today, all forms of flexible employment of people can and should be used: it can be somewhere shortened working hours, somewhere remote, which is most consistent with the recommendations of our doctors,” said the Prime Minister.

He also said that the government will monitor the timely payment of salaries in the country on a weekly basis.

“We are introducing weekly monitoring of the situation on labor markets in the regions, primarily in single-industry towns, where risks are raised from this point of view,” the head of the Cabinet of Ministers said at a meeting on economic issues, stressing that the situation with salaries will be monitored.

The prime minister admitted that in case of a change in the situation on the labor market, the government will present a package of measures to support entrepreneurs.

“We will organize distance advanced vocational training with scholarships, we will also reimburse part of the costs to employers who employ dismissed employees,” TASS quoted the minister as saying.

In addition, the head of the cabinet said that the government intends to support the unemployed if they decide to open their own business.

In turn, the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Anton Siluanov, during a government meeting said that the agency decided to nullify the customs duty rate on the import of medicines.

“Already today we have decided on a zero rate of customs duty on imported drugs and medicines,” the minister said.

In addition to this, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said that an action plan to support the economy against the background of the coronavirus is being implemented. According to the minister, almost half are already in readiness.

“There are only 49 substantial, let’s say, points, instructions, where you really need to make a decision. So, out of them, 13 decisions have already been made, formalized, and 12 are in a high degree of readiness. That is, half the plan is quickly implemented, ”RIA Novosti quoted Reshetnikov as saying.

Over the last day in Moscow after treatment for coronavirus, four people were discharged - three in Moscow and one in the suburbs. This was stated in the operational headquarters for the prevention and control of infection.

In total, to date, 16 people have been ill with coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation. Of these, 13 are Russian citizens, two Chinese citizens, and one Italian citizen.

  • © Vitaliy Ankov / RIA News

According to the latest data from Rospotrebnadzor, today in Russia more than 300 cases of COVID-19 are registered. The last 53 cases were detected last day in 18 regions.

Most of all cases per day in the suburbs - 17 people. Six more were identified in Moscow, five in Tatarstan.

To date, in Russia under the supervision of physicians in connection with the spread of coronavirus infection in the world are more than 36 thousand people.

“82,439 people were under medical supervision in Russia as a whole over the past period of 2020, as of March 20, 2020, 36,540 people remain under control,” the Rospotrebnazdor report said.

The agency clarifies that all the centers of hygiene and epidemiology in the regions are provided with test systems developed by the scientific center of Rospotrebnadzor "Vector". As of March 20, 156 016 studies for the presence of coronavirus were performed, including in people who arrived in Russia from countries that were not favorable in terms of infection.

In addition, the test systems created by Vector were transferred to 13 states. They will be received by member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Iran, Mongolia and the DPRK. Deliveries to Egypt, Serbia and Venezuela are also expected.

The Rospotrebnadzor indicated that Russian tests revealed the first cases of COVID-19 in Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

“Rospotrebnadzor will continue to provide material, technical and methodological assistance to foreign partners to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus epidemic in the world,” the organization said.

Worldwide, there are 274,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection. In 153 countries outside of China, about 192 thousand cases were recorded. In China, there are approximately 81 thousand cases of the disease.