Dozens of patients and staff have been infected with the coronavirus at a psychiatric hospital in Russia’s northwestern Arkhangelsk region, leading to a sharp rise in local cases, Interfax reported Sunday, citing regional authorities.
The Arkhangelsk state clinical psychiatric hospital was placed under quarantine Saturday when one of its employees was found to be infected. She is believed to be a nurse who had recently returned from Moscow, Russia’s Meduza news website quoted an unnamed employee as saying.
At least 70 patients and employees have since tested positive for Covid-19, Interfax cited the regional crisis center as saying Sunday.
Arkhangelsk has now joined a number of other Russian regions that order visitors from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other areas with the highest coronavirus infection rates to spend two weeks in self-isolation.
The Arkhangelsk region reported 68 Covid-19 cases Sunday, the fifth-most in Russia that day, 24 hours after it reported five new cases. The Arkhangelsk region had a total of 114 cases and no deaths by Sunday, according to the crisis center.
The region of 1 million neighbors Russia’s remote republic of Komi, which reported a coronavirus outbreak earlier this month and is currently the country’s fifth most affected territory.
Russia had reported a total of 42,853 coronavirus cases, 10th in the world, and 361 deaths as of Sunday.
