“Corresponding to the real situation”: Mishustin opposed the closure of borders between the subjects of the Russian Federation

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin drew the attention of regional authorities to the inadmissibility of closing the administrative borders of constituent entities of the Russian Federation as part of the fight against the spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19. During a meeting with deputy prime ministers, he called on local authorities not to confuse regional powers with federal ones and not to prevent people and vehicles from moving from one region to another.

“Any restrictions must be adequate and appropriate to the real situation. And of course, the measures introduced by the president and the federal government, ”Mishustin emphasized.

The head of the Cabinet noted that in response to the cases of closure of regional borders recorded last week, the necessary comments were made, which were “heard” and the situation improved over the weekend. The prime minister also added that in the current situation with the coronavirus, the Russian authorities are proactive.

“We are proactive in order to curb the spread of infection throughout the country. And here, any delay will work against us, hamper preventive actions, ”said the Prime Minister.

He asked cabinet members to closely monitor the implementation of actions already taken aimed at strengthening the country's economy in the context of the spread of coronavirus, and, if necessary, prepare additional measures that would enhance the positive effect.

The prime minister also thanked the Russians, who responsibly and with understanding reacted to the introduction of a self-isolation regime. Separately, Mishustin dwelled on the issue of the return to the homeland of Russians who found themselves in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic abroad. According to the prime minister, Russia does not renounce its obligations.

“I want to emphasize: Russia did not refuse to export its citizens from other countries, we never leave our people. On the contrary, in a situation where borders are closed, flights are canceled, we are making efforts so that everyone who wants to return home. To do this, you just need to submit an application on the public services portal, ”the head of the Cabinet explained.

The prime minister added that in the coming days Vladimir Putin intends to hold a conference call with the heads of the Russian regions on the situation with coronavirus.

Later, during a meeting of the Presidium of the Coordination Council under the government to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the Russian Federation, Mishustin talked about a number of measures that the Cabinet has taken to smooth out negative phenomena. In particular, we are talking about the introduction of a temporary moratorium on the calculation of penalties for unpaid utilities. Such a grace period will last from the moment of publication of the resolution until January 1, 2021. A series of measures are also being prepared to assist low-income families and a number of other steps.

• Mikhail Mishustin holds a meeting with vice premieres via videoconference
• RIA News
• © Dmitry Astakhov

Affected Economy and Credit Holidays

Also on Monday, April 6, the government prepared a list of areas of the economy that were most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes nine areas of activity.

These included air travel, airport activities, and trucking; culture, leisure and entertainment; fitness activities and sports; travel agency activities, hotel business and catering.

In addition, the list included activities of organizations of additional education and non-governmental educational institutions; the organization of conferences and exhibitions and the provision of domestic services to the population, including repair, washing, dry cleaning, hairdressing and beauty salons.

Along with this, the Cabinet determined the maximum amount of loans for which borrowers can apply to lenders with a request for a vacation. For consumer loans to individuals, the limit will be 250 thousand rubles, for consumer loans to individual entrepreneurs - 300 thousand rubles, and for car loans - 600 thousand rubles.

The maximum amount of loans "issued for purposes not related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activity, and liabilities for which are secured by a mortgage" for applications for credit holidays will amount to 1.5 million rubles.

• Conducting a test for COVID-19 in Simferopol
• RIA News
• © Konstantin Mikhalchevsky

The latest data on COVID-19 in Russia

Over the past day in 49 regions of Russia 954 cases of infection with a new coronavirus infection were detected. The total number of cases in the country has reached 6343. So far, 406 people have recovered (51 of them over the past day); 47 people all the time died from complications due to concomitant diseases.

Moscow remains the leader in the number of cases, with 4484 cases recorded (591 over the past day). In the capital's operational headquarters indicated that almost 85% of cases for the last day under 65 years of age.

Tests for COVID-19 in Russia

Against this background, Roszdravnadzor registered the first Russian rapid test for coronavirus, which was developed by the group of companies “Biomedical Union”.

“This is the first domestic rapid test that allows using standard equipment to determine the presence of coronavirus within 40 minutes with an accuracy of more than 94%, including sample preparation,” the company said in a statement.

In addition, Rospotrebnadzor announced the start of commercial testing of coronavirus. The procedure will be carried out by the Center for Molecular Diagnostics of Rospotrebnadzor (CMD) and can be performed at home. To conduct the analysis, specialists use a highly sensitive test system developed by scientists of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology. It is noted that the procedure for collecting biomaterial occurs at home in a virtually non-contact manner.

“The cost of the analysis is 1250 rubles, plus the cost of the medical staff’s departure, depending on the location of the patient,” said Elena Tivanova, head of laboratory medicine at CMD, on the Russia 24 television channel.

In clinical trials, this test showed high sensitivity and specificity, that is, the possibility of obtaining a false-negative and false-positive result is excluded, emphasized in Rospotrebnadzor.

“For a mass study on COVID-19, the Center for Molecular Diagnostics of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor offers to test everyone without the appointment of a doctor for the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” the ministry said.

A specialist will come to the customer with a diagnostic kit and explain how he can take a swab from the oropharynx on his own. After that, the employee will deliver the collected biomaterial to the laboratory. The result of the study will be sent to the specified email address within one to two days.

• © RT

World distribution dynamics

According to official data from the World Health Organization, more than 1.17 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the world. The number of deaths is close to the mark of 64.5 thousand.

Most of the sick and dead were registered in the European Region - over 656 thousand and 49.5 thousand cases of infection and death from the consequences of infection, respectively.

For a long time, Italy was the leader in the number of detected cases of COVID-19 in Europe, but now there are more infected in Spain (128.9 thousand and 130.8 thousand, respectively). However, authorities in both countries indicated a slowdown in the spread of the virus.

According to the head of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Salvador Ilya, the country "is at the stage of slowing the epidemic." According to him, objective data indicate the effectiveness of quarantine measures. Over the past day in the country recorded 4273 new cases of the disease (at least since March 23) and 637 deaths. In previous days, the death toll was 674, 809 and 932 cases.

Italy also announced a positive trend. According to the Minister of Civil Defense, Angelo Borrelli, the number of victims of the epidemic on the eve increased by 525 people. Daily growth of the dead within 600 is observed in Italy for the first time since March 19. In the preceding Borrelli statement, the days of the dead were more than 600 and 700.

The absolute leader in the number of cases of COVID-19 in the world is the United States, where the number of infected people exceeded 307 thousand (according to WHO) and close to 338 thousand (according to Johns Hopkins University). According to various sources, from 8.3 thousand to 9.6 thousand people died from the consequences of coronavirus infection.

US authorities expect mortality rates to fall next week, White House Coronavirus Coordinator Deborah Birks said.