Putin Urged Taking Extraordinary Measures to Combat the Virus

Extraordinary measures are necessary to stop the coronavirus spread, Vladimir Putin said during the online meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on pandemic. RIA News reported on April, 14. The head of state noted that emergency measures are being introduced in several countries, but the spread of infection can only be stopped by joint efforts. Putin recalled that a pandemic is bad for all areas, including the economy. So, it has become more difficult to conduct trade between countries, commodity and financial markets are changing. In addition, the mobility of the population decreased. Call for unification The president said the Russian authorities allocated up to 1.2 percent of GDP to reduce the negative effect of the epidemic. At the same time, Putin added that, if necessary, the EAEU countries can use the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development and the Eurasian Development Bank resources. In addition, Putin urged to think about zeroing the EAEU duties on components for important industries. “This is primarily about air transport, tourism, the hotel business, entertainment and leisure, catering, culture and sports,” the head of state said. He also recalled that a green corridor was opened for importing into the EAEU socially significant goods - food, medicines, medical equipment, personal protective equipment. EAEU leaders made a joint statement following the results of the online meeting. It states that all the latest restrictions will be lifted after the end of the pandemic. Coronavirus pandemic Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (the causative agent of COVID-19) has spread to 185 countries on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. According to WHO, at least 1.8 million cases have been reported in the world, over 113 thousand of them have died. According to the Johns Hopkins University, that is also making investigations, almost two million people were infected, out of them 119,766 died and 458 thousand patients got cured. The highest death toll is in the USA, Italy, Spain and France.