24 people hospitalized, 83 quarantined after contact with coronavirus patient in Moscow – mayor

Doctors have confirmed the first case of the Covid-19 coronavirus in the Russian capital, and those who were in contact with the infected man have been hospitalized or quarantined, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has said.

Within 24 hours of the first signs on Friday that the man might be infected, a full list of his recent contacts was established, including relatives, friends, acquaintances and the passengers who were on the same flight from Italy as him, Sobyanin said in a statement.

Six relatives and five acquaintances of the patient were hospitalized. From the passengers of the flight [from Italy], 13 people were hospitalized, 83 people were quarantined.

The Russian citizen reportedly became infected with the coronavirus during his vacation in Italy. He returned to his home outside Moscow just over a week ago, and several days later approached doctors with symptoms of an acute respiratory viral infection, after which he was swiftly hospitalized.

The patient, who is suffering from a light form of the coronavirus, is now in an infectious diseases hospital and receiving the necessary treatment, the mayor added.

Since its first recorded cases in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December, the coronavirus has spread to 53 countries, with almost 90,000 cases around the globe, and more than 3,000 fatalities. More than 44,000 patients have successfully recovered from the virus.

Russia has been undertaking a large-scale effort to prevent the spread of the epidemic, with special facilities set up in Moscow and elsewhere across the country to accept those who may become sick. Thousands of people, who either had acute respiratory viral diseases or had visited coronavirus-hit countries, were put under medical surveillance.

The government has also banned the majority of flights from China and South Korea, while closing parts of the Russian-Chinese border in the Far East. Train travel to Italy has also been suspended, but flights are so far continuing as normal.

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