Журнал. World association for medical law. The COVID-19 pandemic. Volume 39 2

292 Medicine and Law Keywords: Pandemic; COVID-19; Restrictive Measures; Liability; Medical Care; Government Support Measures; Patient Rights; Human Rights Introduction On January 30 2020, at a meeting of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergency committee, the outbreak of the new coronavirus was recognized as a public health emergency of international concern. On March 11 2020, the WHO officially recognized it as a pandemic. In Russia, the first case of COVID -19 infection was recorded on January 31 2020. 1 The virus’s source seemed to be beyond Russian borders: it was detected in the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Tyumen Region of two arrived Chinese citizens. The main increase in the number of detected cases began in mid-March, due to timely preventive measures taken by executive authorities. Acting in advance of a rapidly growing pandemic, on January 24, 2020, the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation issued Decree No. 2 “ On additional measures to prevent the importation and spread of a new coronavirus infection caused by 2019-nCoV, ” and on January 30 2020, the Russian Federation Government imposed a ban on border crossing by Chinese citizens, arriving from China. The restrictions were introduced in Russia for the first time in history. The measures to prevent the increase in COVID infections were as follows: self- isolation; communication with foreign countries; classified non-working days; introduction of the regime limits measures; widespread thermometry of the population; establishment of adaptive patient-medication systems; and state control of pricing of medical devices, which is a significant element in protecting against potential infection. Newmeasures of administrative and criminal liability for violation of restrictions were introduced. The spread of COVID -19 in Russia, at the beginning of the pandemic, did not exceed the European average and amounted to ~20% and, after the introduction of more stringent restrictive measures, including self-isolation, it fell to 3%. Less than 2 months after the introduction of the self-isolation, the distribution coefficient of coronavirus in Russia decreased to 0.89 and to 0.72 in Moscow. 2 1 https://www.rospotrebnadzor.ru/region/korono_virus/epid.php. 2 https://tass.ru/obschestvo/8506237.