Russian military medics may become involved in the fight against the novel coronavirus on the territory of Russia, President Vladimir Putin said at an online meeting on the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the country today.
"Of course, we need to use their experience and to keep in mind that we can tap all resources, namely the resources of the Russian Defence Ministry, if necessary [to combat the coronavirus]," Putin said.
The Russian leader recalled that Russian military officers are already working hard abroad to help combat the virus. Putin stressed that they had accumulated significant experience in fighting this epidemic under difficult conditions.
"This is just a small share of the Russian Defence Ministry’s capacity," the president said. "Their main resources are on standby, we need to keep this in mind." He added that the Russian Defence Ministry had already begun construction of new medical facilities to combat infectious diseases in many Russian regions, which can be used in the long-term.
Putin stressed that "the situation is changing every single day and regrettably not for the better. The number of sick people is increasing along with the number of serious cases."
Source - TASS
