Russian Governor to publish Coronavirus patients' addresses online to curb spread of COVID-19

  • The governor urged residents to minimize visits to these addresses as much as possible

  • There have been cases in Russia when coronavirus patients faced harassment and online bullying

An interactive map with addresses of coronavirus patients is going to get created for residents to avoid certain places in order to curb the spread of the virus. Karelia, a region in northern Russia reported six more cases of coronavirus infections on Monday.

Governor Artur Parfenchikov posted on social media that he issued instructions to create an online map that includes all infected cases specifying their streets and house numbers. He informed that the interactive map is going to be updated daily according to the operational summary. He said it is important for people to learn the sources of infection and avoid visiting these places.

According to the post, six new coronavirus cases were reported in the same area of Petrozavodsk where 10 people got sick the earlier day. Post by Artur reads that they neglected safety rules, "violated the restrictive measures that are currently in force in the republic. The result - 16 people in the hospital! As already written, this will be given a legal assessment."

COVID-19 patients face harassment

Google Maps
Representational Picture Pexels

There have been cases previously where coronavirus patients were targeted with online bullying, threats and intimidation. In one of the cases, Mukhina, who recently returned to Moscow from London via Germany and Finland tested positive for COVID-19. She faced stigmatization, suspicion and harassment after mentioning that she is battling with coronavirus on social media.

"People wrote to me saying that I was a fraud, a liar, that I was making it up to get followers. They said people like me should be burned and that I'm a disgrace to the country," she told The Moscow Times.

Last month Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered to create cellphone geolocation tracking system that would alert the user if they come closer to any infected person. The tracking system will trace citizens who come in contact with the infected person using both of their cellular phone's geolocation.

There have been 62 cases confirmed with no deaths due to coronavirus in the Republic of Karelia. Russia as a whole has recorded 6,198 new cases and 47 deaths on Monday taking the total number of cases to 93,558 with 867 fatalities.

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