The number of people infected with coronavirus is increasing in Russia. On the territory of China, where the coronavirus originated, the epidemic is becoming less active: the majority of new cases are now associated with incoming travelers, and Russia has become the main source of “importation” of Covid-19.
Analyzing official statistics, the Chinese service of the BBC determined that as of April 15, 541 people infected with coronavirus arrived in China from Russia. This accounts for more than a third of the 1500 cases imported from abroad. The second and third highest number of arrivals came from the United Kingdom (296 cases) and the United States (161 cases).
Chinese authorities report that all passengers arriving from Russia are Chinese citizens, and the majority of them are private traders doing business on Russian territory. According to the BBC, a significant number of those infected worked at the “Sadovod” market in Kapotnya and the “Moscow” market in Lyublino. Many of them returned home through the northeastern city of Suifenhe in Heilongjiang province. It is located near the Russian border, just 200 kilometers from Vladivostok, where buses run to Heilongjiang.
According to Chinese state media, a significant number of cases have been confirmed on flights from Moscow to Vladivostok, with some infected individuals arriving directly from the Russian capital. On April 10, at least 60 of 204 passengers were infected on a single Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Shanghai. Chinese media quoted one of the passengers as saying he heard coughing during the flight. People with the identified illness are being quarantined in Shanghai.
The city of Suifenhe is located on the Russian border. Currently, there is only one flight per week between China and Russia. China has also temporarily closed all land borders with Russia. The Chinese consulate in Russia has repeatedly warned that crossing the border at Suifenhe is associated with a “huge risk of infection”. According to Agence France-Presse, the Chinese authorities are even offering a $700 reward to anyone who reports people crossing the border illegally from Russia. About 80 thousand people live in Suifenhe. The city is currently under quarantine, and Chinese authorities have sent medical professionals from other regions to assist local doctors.
Chinese businessmen in Moscow told the BBC that many traders usually live in dormitories in the Sadovod and Moscow markets, where they sell small goods wholesale. Up to seven or eight people can be accommodated in a room in such dormitories, leading to the rapid spread of the disease.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens conduct business and study in Russia. According to Chinese officials, the majority of confirmed cases in Suifenhe are businessmen doing business in Russia.
“There are many buyers in the market, and the flow of people is very large,” said Bi-bi-si Vanya, a Chinese businessman who has been involved in import and export in Moscow for almost 20 years. “And since trading starts at five in the morning every day, most people live in several dormitories right by the market or in nearby apartment buildings for convenience if they have to get up that early.”
Another businessman from China, Stone (pseudonym), who trades at the “Moscow” market, says that he celebrated the Chinese New Year in the city of Jilin, and then returned to Moscow and learned that many of his colleagues who arrived in Suifenhe were found to have coronavirus. “It seems to me that this virus is always around. It’s like sleeping with a bomb under your pillow,” Stone says.
“The general director of “Sadovod” Vladislav Novikov told the Russian service of the BBC that the hotel has not been operating since the beginning of April. “My hotel closed on April 6, all the Chinese left. I don’t know where this information comes from, it’s some kind of duck,” Novikov said. BBC also sent a request to the “Moscow” market to comment on the situation and is waiting for a response. “Sadovod and Moscow are located in the southeast of Moscow. After the closure of the Cherkizovsky market by the Russian authorities in 2009, where there were many Chinese traders, they gradually moved to these markets.
The shopping center and the market “Sadovod” are currently closed. According to rough estimates, up to 10,000 people a day visited each market. To prevent the spread of the infection, Russian authorities temporarily closed both markets at the end of March.
As a result, many Chinese decided to return home: the risk of contracting the coronavirus is high due to overcrowding, not everyone has health insurance, and not everyone speaks Russian well, making it difficult to communicate with doctors. But there are also many Chinese in Moscow who prefer to wait out the epidemic in Russia, as it becomes increasingly difficult to return home.
“The epidemic in Russia is becoming more serious, and it would be untrue to say that I am not worried,” said Li Yilin, a Chinese student and postgraduate student at MGU. She worries that the risk of contracting Covid-19 on long-haul flights is quite high. Besides, she has two dogs and a cat, and it would be difficult to transport them by plane, so she will stay isolated in Moscow. “Almost all Chinese living in Russia observe a very strict home quarantine. However, many locals walk their dogs without masks, apparently not understanding how terrible an epidemic can be,” she added.
On Wednesday, the management of Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow announced that raids were conducted at the exhibition complex “Moscow” in the south-eastern district and it was discovered that 611 Chinese and Vietnamese citizens were staying illegally in the hotel at the “Moscow” market.
“During the inspection, three people with symptoms of acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI) were identified and hospitalized in medical facilities. Thirteen persons who had contact with the infected persons were isolated on a separate floor of the hotel. Disinfection measures have been carried out in the hotel premises,” the ministry said.
In addition, Rospotrebnadzor employees discovered an illegal hotel with Chinese and Vietnamese citizens in the closed area of a former factory in the Southeastern Administrative District. No illnesses were detected among the 244 Chinese and Vietnamese citizens. “All 244 citizens of China and Vietnam received decisions from the chief state sanitary doctor of the Southeast administrative district of Moscow on isolation at their place of residence. The disinfection regime in the premises of the “Druzhba” hotel has been strengthened, and control over compliance with the isolation regime has been established,” the statement said.