January 31, 2020 - 17:22 AMT
Russia confirms first two cases of coronavirus

Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus on Friday, January 31 and said the infected people were Chinese citizens who had been isolated, The Moscow Times reports.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said all direct flights to China from Russia would be halted from midnight on Friday, with the exception of Aeroflot.

Golikova added that the government plans to begin evacuating Russian nationals from China. According to preliminary data, there are 300 Russians in the quarantined city of Wuhan and 341 in the Hubei province where the outbreak originated, she said.

The new coronavirus has killed more than 200 people in China and continues to spread around the world, infecting thousands of people.

Armenia said Friday that it is suspending the visa free travel from China amid the deadly novel coronavirus.