Russia bans border crossing for Italians

MOSCOW

Russia temporarily banned border crossing for Italians and foreigners arriving from Italy in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Moscow announced Thursday.

"In order to ensure state security, protect public health and non-proliferation of the new coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV) on the territory of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service of Russia from 00:00 Moscow time on March 13, 2020 temporarily suspends border crossing for citizens of the Italian Republic entering the territory of the Russian Federation for training and employment, as well as for private, tourist and transit purposes," it said.

The restrictions do not apply to the citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union, plane crews, members of official delegations and those with a residence permit in Russia.

The government instructed the Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviation, to notify airline companies about the restrictions within 24 hours.

It also suspended visa applications and visa deliveries for Italians.

Six new cases of the virus known as COVID-19 were reported Thursday in Russia. Four in Moscow and two in other regions. All the new cases had recently visited countries with a high number of diagnosed cases.

Russia has 34 confirmed cases -- 31 Russians, 2 Chinese and 1 Italian were found infected.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

The global death toll from the virus has surpassed 4,600, with more than 124,500 confirmed cases, according to the WHO.

It originated in the central city of Wuhan, China last December and has spread to 114 countries.

As part of efforts to contain the outbreak, many governments closed borders and suspended land and air travel with the worst-hit countries, including, Italy, China and Iran.