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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reported Thursday by videoconference to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he has contracted the coronavirus, and will therefore have to temporarily stop exercising his functions.
Mishustin, in power since January, provisionally handed over the post to the deputy prime minister, Andrei Belousov, a decision that was accepted by the head of the Kremlin, according to Russian agencies.
“I have to isolate myself and follow the instructions of the doctors. It is necessary to protect my colleagues,” said Mishustin, 54.
“What has happened to you can happen to anyone,” Putin replied during the conference call.
“I hope he can continue working and that he participates actively” in the government’s decisions, he added. Russia, which prolonged the confinement of its population until mid-May, today exceeded 100,000 cases and a thousand died from COVID-19.
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