Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the false rumors about the novel coronavirus circulating in Russia are being organized from abroad during government meeting, Wednesday.
According to South China Morning Post, the country's Federal Security Service (FSB) reported to the president that false information about the country's coronavirus status is being planted to cause fear. Putin also advised the ministers that the reality of the situation is not very critical.
Putin also referred to the circulating stories as "provocative fake stories," and advised that the FSB reports say that these are mostly organized from outside the country which clearly aims to spread panic among the public. He also noted that Russia has to release comprehensive, trustworthy and timely information to fight the continued spread of false news. He further added that as of the moment, nothing critical is happening in the country regarding the virus, but it is vital that the people know the real situation.
Aside from Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova also aired out her thoughts on fake posts circulating on social media about COVID-19. She called out the posts that are claiming that there is quite a large number of people in Russia infected with the virus and that the country's officials are hiding the information. She further stressed in the meeting that these claims are far from reality.
The charges by Moscow were following the claims of State Department officials of the United States that thousands of social media accounts used to fuel alarm over the virus are linked to Russia.
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Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, Philip Reeker referred to the accounts as "Russia malign actors" and claimed that they were spreading disinformation about the virus which poses a threat to public safety and security.
Reeker's comments were immediately condemned by Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry saying that those were a "deliberately false story."
In response to the continuous spread of the coronavirus, Russia has banned export on masks, respirators and hazmat suits in order to ensure that their doctors and healthcare frontlines have access to these items when treating coronavirus patients.
Seventeen types of equipment including, plastic shoe covers, gloves, face masks, surgical scrubs, hazmat suits, and gas masks are affected by the ban. However, the ban does not cover humanitarian aid supplies leaving the country. The said ban is set to expire on the first of June.
As of the moment, Russia has recorded six confirmed COVID-19 cases including those who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess. The country has also placed a ban on visits by Chinese citizens and has restricted entry of Iranians and those traveling from South Korea.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 95,000 worldwide with the biggest density of cases still in mainland China where the virus first emerged. Deaths caused by the virus has also already risen to more than3,200 across 71 countries and territories worldwide.
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