Coronavirus: Energy minister of Russia tests positive for COVID-19
Synopsis
Russia said on Saturday that it has produced the first batch of its coronavirus vaccine, after President Vladimir Putin announced it had been first in the world to approve a vaccine.
Moscow: Alexander Novak, Russian energy minister tested positive for coronavirus. On August 18, the country's Prime Minister announced the news.
"Unfortunately, Alexander Valentinovich Novak has been taken ill with the coronavirus", Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told a government meeting in Blagoveshchensk, in Russia's Far East, the Interfax news agency said.
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The news agency added that Novak learned of the diagnosis after arriving in Blagoveshchensk where he was to take part in the meeting as well as the opening of a huge petro-chemical project near the Chinese border.
"He arrived and he has left for Moscow. With all our hearts, we wish him a recovery," said Mishustin. The PM was also diagnosed with the coronavirus in April but has recovered.
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Several Russian political figures also tested positive for coronavirus in recent months, which includes Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and some ministers and lawmakers.
On August 17, Russia recorded 927,745 infections, including 15,740 deaths from COVID-19.
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