The Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced on Thursday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Showing no apparent symptoms of the virus during his brief conversation, Mishustin will be going to the hospital but plans to remain in active contact by phone and video.
“The tests I did for coronavirus came back positive,” Mishustin said in a televised video conversation with President Vladimir Putin. “As a result, I must observe self-isolation and fulfill my doctors’ orders, which is necessary to protect my colleagues.”
Bloomberg
Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Mishustin’s suggestion to name First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as Prime Minister while Mishustin observes self-isolation.
Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin has been serving as the Prime Minister of Russia since January 16, 2020. He was previously the Director of the Federal Tax Service from 2010 to 2020.
In his comments to Putin, Mishustin appealed to Russians to “take the coronavirus infection and its spread as seriously as possible,” calling on his countrymen to follow the government’s self-isolation orders over the upcoming long holiday weekends. “The date when the country can return to normal life depends on the willpower of each of us.”