UrBC, Moscow, February 20, 2020. Starting February 19, 2020, no Chinese nationals will be allowed to enter the Russian Federation for the time being. The decree to this effect, signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, is now available on the Cabinet’s website.

According to the decree, it was decided to put a temporary entry ban on the People’s Republic of China’s nationals trying to cross the Russian Federation border for work or study/as tourists/on private visits.

Kommersant states the decree was signed after a COVID-19 HQ meeting ‘due to the epidemic in China getting worse and due to the ongoing influx of Chinese nationals to Russia.’

People in 26 different countries have been diagnosed with the new type of coronavirus since December 2019. In China, 1,800 people died and over 72,000 people have been infected. The WHO declared the epidemic an international emergency and only expects the first vaccines to become available in eighteen months. The WHO announced on February 12 that the virus spread picture came to look better, but it was still too early to speak of a downward trend.