Update – 23.04.2020

April 23, 2020

On Thursday (April 23^rd), Russia recorded 4,774 new cases of coronavirus in 81 Russian regions, raising the official number of positive results to 62,773, with 555 dead. Almost half of the new cases (45.5%) had no clinical symptoms of the disease. The majority of new COVID-19 cases (1,959) were registered in Moscow, bringing the total number of Moscovites with confirmed COVID-19 to 33,940. In the meantime, a total of 4,891 Russian patients are known to have recovered from coronavirus.

A new Moscow hospital built in a little over a month to treat coronavirus patients has admitted its first 20 patients; the Moscow mayor’s office said Tuesday (April 21^st), as the Russian capital continues to battle an onslaught of new cases.

As from April 22^nd, Moscow authorities have started monitoring the movements of all people showing coronavirus symptoms, using their cell phone geolocation data. The city is already tracking the movements of confirmed coronavirus patients who are self-isolating at home.

On Monday (April 20^th), the Russian technology company, Yandex, announced plans to make free tests for the new coronavirus available to people of all ages in Moscow and its suburbs. Yandex, which offers a wide array of online services, including an internet search engine, taxi reservations and food deliveries, said the testing would be funded by the company and donations. It was not immediately clear how much the plan would cost Yandex.

Aeroflot Airlines suspended sales of international flights until “there is certainty on the resumption of international air traffic”. Tickets for international flights are available on booking engines starting from August 1st. Additionally, Aeroflot and Aviasales OTA has announced that they will stop their direct partnership, as from May 1^st 2020. Aeroflot and Pobeda airlines tickets will still be available in Aviasales searching engines, but the bookings will take place via partner agencies of Aviasales.

According to a survey by ostrovok.ru OTA with 1500 respondents, 49% of Russians miss European travel very much. 37% dream of beach holidays, 22% are looking forward to travelling to Asian resorts, and 16% are waiting for trips within Russia. 14% miss long-haul destinations (USA, Mexico) and 8% miss mountain ski resorts.

Following the lockdown of international air travel and the introduction of restrictions on movements inside the country, the Russian government is set to allocate more than 23 billion roubles to support the country’s ailing airlines affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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