The Moscow branch of Rospotrebnadzor, Russia's consumer rights watchdog, has declared an epidemic of flu and acute respiratory viral infection in the capital, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday, citing a decree signed by Yelena Andreyeva, the city's chief sanitary inspector.
"The infection rate among the overall population [of Moscow] has exceeded the epidemic threshold by 37.8 percent," the document stated, according to TASS.
Municipal institutions were placed in quarantine starting Tuesday and will remain so until further notice.
Medical institutions were instructed to provide all necessary outpatient care to those infected with the illness. Patients with unusual symptoms are to be immediately hospitalized.
Twenty-four people have died from the flu in Russia this week, TASS reported. The flu epidemic threshold in Russia is exceeded by 32 percent, the report said.
