Putin: reports about outbreak of coronavirus in Russia originate from abroad
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with members of the government that the situation with the coronavirus in both Russia and Moscow is under control and "nothing critical is happening yet". According to him, the information, which claims the opposite, is published on social networks from abroad in order to "sow panic among the population".
Putin said that he was informed about it by FSB (Russian Federal Security Service). He did not specify who exactly is behind these reports and from which countries "the fakes" come from.
At the same time, the Russian news agency Interfax reported that several people had been detained on suspicion of spreading fake reports about the outbreak of coronavirus in Moscow. Interfax didn’t provide the names of the detainees. The source of the agency only said that a pre-investigation check was being carried out against these persons.
As of March 4, more than 94,000 around the world have been infected with COVID-19 coronavirus, which originated from China. More than three thousand people died. China, South Korea, Iran and Italy remain the main hotbeds of infection. In total, the virus has been detected in 76 countries.
On March 2, the Russian authorities confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Moscow. A young resident of Moscow, who had visited Italy, became ill. He was hospitalized. His immediate entourage and passengers on the same flight are being monitored by doctors. Three other people infected with the coronavirus are being held in a hospital in Kazan.
Many experts note that a small number of infected people in Russia may be due to poor diagnosis. Bloggers on social networks joke that this was influenced by Putin's amendment to the Constitution, which recognizes the existence of God.