Update – 04.06.2020

June 4, 2020

On Thursday, June 4^th, Russia recorded 8,831 new cases of coronavirus in 85 Russian regions, raising the official number of positive results to 441,108, with 5,384 dead. 38,2% of infected Russians had no clinical symptoms of the disease. Most new COVID-19 cases (1,998) were registered in Moscow, raising the total number of Muscovites with confirmed COVID-19 to 189,214. In the meantime, a total number of 204,623 Russian patients are known to have recovered from coronavirus. Russia is now the 3^rd most-affected country in the world in terms of confirmed cases, after the USA and Brazil.

On Wednesday, June 3^rd, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree on the restoration of regular medical care in clinics. Federal medical centers that were redeployed to receive patients with coronavirus will gradually return to treating ordinary patients and will resume treatment of diseases which they previously dealt with before the pandemic.

On Monday, June 1^st, the first Russian drug against coronavirus received approval from the Ministry of Health, and laboratory tests confirmed its clinical effectiveness. The drug is a domestic analogue of the Japanese drug created to treat patients with influenza. During the first stage, the drug will be used to treat patients in hospitals.

On Monday, June 1^st, Deputy Moscow Mayor for social development, Anastasia Rakova, announced that temporary hospitals with 10 thousand beds built in Moscow for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 will not be dismantled – the authorities intend to keep them for at least a year.

Cafes and restaurants are gearing up to open, within the framework of Rospotrebnadzor recommendations and requirements: tables should be located at a distance of not less than 1.5 meters from each other, damaged tableware cannot be used and the temperature and other health indicators of employees must be controlled on a regular basis. Similar rules will be applied to hotels. Each Russian region has the right to decide the exact date for the opening of its cafes, restaurants and hotels.

On Wednesday, June 3^rd, Head of the Department of Tourism Project Safety and Tourism Safety of Rostourism, Elena Lysenkova, said: “The beaches of the Krasnodar region and Crimea may open in two weeks”. As stipulated, the beaches will open depending on the situation in each region.

Travelata.ru online travel booking service compared the search results and preliminary travel applications conducted in May 2020, with the same month in 2019. Turkey is the leading destination in the search, even though the opening date of its borders is still unknown. Russia holds second place. Thailand holds third place. Tunisia and Greece rank fourth and fifth respectively. Travelers who wish to take holidays as early as possible opt for tours to domestic resorts. The most significant changes were reflected in the search results for the depth of the reservation of the holiday period. August seems to be the most likely vacation time for Russians: every fourth search result falls within this month. July is the second most popular, and September, is the third. A relatively large proportion of tourists opted for tours next year.

On Thursday, June 4^th, Kazakhstan recorded 271 new cases of coronavirus, raising the official number of positive cases to 12 067,with 48 dead.

On Wednesday, June 3^rd, Beibut Atamkulov, Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development, said: Kazakhstani airlines have been instructed to issue air ticket refunds without penalty, in full, for all flights that were delayed or canceled during the state of emergency.

On Tuesday, June 2^nd, the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Kazakhstan, Aizhan Esmagambetova, recommended transferring employees to a remote working policy.

On Thursday, June 4^th, Ukraine recorded 588 new cases of coronavirus, raising the official number of positive results to 25 411, with 747 dead.

On Wednesday, June 3^rd, the Ukraine Cabinet of Ministers made the following decisions during their meeting: in Ukraine, domestic flights will re-start on June 5^th, and international flights with states that have opened airports for flights from Ukraine will re-start on June 15^th.

On Wednesday, June 3^rd, Health Minister, Maxim Stepanov, announced the easing of lockdown restrictions, beginning June 5^th:
- restaurants are able to serve visitors indoors with respect to social distancing.
- church services and religious rites will be allowed to be conducted on the respective premises, subject to social distancing (1 person per 1.5 square meter).
- elderly citizens no longer need to observe self-isolation.

On Thursday, June 4^th, Georgia recorded 1 new case of coronavirus, raising the official number of positive results to 801, with 13 dead.

On Tuesday, June 2^nd, Forbes magazine included Georgia on the list of seven countries that could become the main safest tourist destinations in the world, following the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, May 29^th, the Ukrainian YanAir Airlines has announced the resumption of flights to Georgia, from July 1^st.

On Wednesday, June 3^rd, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, said at a city government meeting: “All city service centres at 10 district administrations and Tbilisi City Hall have resumed their work and are accepting citizens”.

On Monday, June 1^st, large shopping centers, as well as several restaurants and catering facilities, resumed operations in Tbilisi. Personnel wear masks, while visitors should keep a distance from each other. Regular disinfection and sanitization of the premises must be carried out.

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