New Coronavirus May Get To Russia From China, Unlikely To Spread - Consumer Welfare Agency

A coronavirus registered in a recent outbreak in China may travel to Russia, but is unlikely to cause a mass outbreak there, the consumer protection watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2020) A coronavirus registered in a recent outbreak in China may travel to Russia, but is unlikely to cause a mass outbreak there, the consumer protection watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said Tuesday.

On Monday, China's National Health Commission confirmed human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus. Four deaths have been registered so far in China's Wuhan, where the outbreak began.

"It cannot be fully excluded that a new coronavirus or any other virus, for that matter, enters Russia.

Every year, more than 1.5 million Chinese citizens come to Russia, about as many Russian citizens go to China," the agency's press service said.

At the same time, the virus is unlikely to spread far in Russia because of the measures taken by the agency, the press service added.

"Rospotrebnadzor research department has already developed a diagnostics test that will be able to identify the infection trigger fast. By the end of the week, it will start appearing in the country's labs," the press service said.