Russia temporarily seals borders due to coronavirus

A day earlier Russian Prime Minister informed heads of state that in order to ensure security and curb the spread of coronavirus, it was decided from 00:00 on March 18 to temporarily restrict entry to the territory of the Russian Federation for foreign citizens and stateless persons. Currently, restriction will be valid until May 1, 2020.

Exceptions to entry will be made for the following categories of citizens:

• employees of diplomatic and consular missions;
• truck drivers, crews of aircraft, sea and river vessels, train and locomotive crews;
• persons going to the funeral and transit passengers;
• citizens permanently residing in Russia. Also, the process of accepting documents for visa invitations and their issuance has been temporarily suspended. Let us recall that within the Moscow city measures have already been introduced to combat and prevent coronavirus, among them:
• a temporary ban on sporting, spectacular and other mass events until April 10, 2020, and for events held indoors, a restriction is up to 50 people;
• since March 21, 2020, all Moscow state schools, sports schools and institutions of additional education are closed;
• the list of countries has been increased, after returning from which citizens (and their cohabitants) should be self-isolated at home for 14 days, etc. The decree of the mayor of Moscow also introduces a number of recommendations for citizens of Moscow, including the temporary transfer of employees of commercial enterprises to remote work, self-isolation of older people and people with chronic diseases.