Russia to temporarily ban entry of foreign nationals amid coronavirus concerns

Russia will ban the entry of foreign citizens and stateless persons from March 18 to May 1 as part of the measures to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus in the country, its government announced on Monday.

Sputnik cited a statement by the Russian Cabinet's press service stating that the entry ban will not apply to truck drivers, crews of aircraft and ships, train crews, diplomats and consuls, permanent residents of the Russian Federation and a small number of other categories of foreign citizens.

The Cabinet earlier said that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin discussed on Monday with his counterparts of several Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations the situation around the spread of COVID-19 infection.

"Mikhail Mishustin informed the heads of government that in order to ensure the state security, protect public health and prevent the spread of coronavirus infection in accordance with Russian law and the provisions of applicable international treaties of the Russian Federation, the Russian government has made a decision to temporarily restrict the entry into the Russian Federation of foreign citizens and stateless persons from 00:00 local time on March 18, 2020, until 00:00 local time on May 1, 2020," the press service said in a statement.