Russian Energy Minister Novak contracts coronavirus, tests positive thrice
BLAGOVESHCHENSK. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has tested positive for coronavirus, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
"Regretfully, Alexander Valentinovich Novak has contracted coronavirus. Let us wholeheartedly wish him recovery. In fact, he came here and flew back to Moscow without attending [the meeting]. May God grant him good health," Mishustin said at a meeting of the Government Commission on the Socioeconomic Development of the Russian Far East in Blagoveshchensk on Tuesday.
A representative of the Russian Energy Ministry told Interfax that the minister tested positive in Kamchatka and went back to Moscow where his coronavirus diagnosis was confirmed with two more tests. Novak is alright and will attend the virtual meeting of the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee on Wednesday.
A number of journalists from the government pool tested positive for Covid-19 during Mishustin's trip to the Far East. The journalists were isolated in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and taken back to Moscow under control of doctors by a plane of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry.
Some more journalists tested positive in Blagoveshchensk. They were also isolated and sent back to Moscow in strict compliance with sanitary requirements.