Russians arriving from overseas will have to self-isolate until COVID-19 test results come out

MOSCOW: Russian citizens, who will arrive in the country from abroad, will have to remain in self-isolation at home until getting results of a coronavirus test, Anna Popova, the head of the national public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said in a decree issued on Thursday.

According to a previous decree of Popova, all Russians arriving in the country from abroad must provide a PCR-test within three days.

"Until getting the results of the COVID-19 test carried out with the PCR method, people must remain in self-isolation in their place of residence," the new decree said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 31.7 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 975,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Russia has registered over 1.1 million COVID-19 coronavirus cases so far with more than 19,000 fatalities.