U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the situation in Russia’s Irkutsk region, where quarantine measures were introduced after the death of a plague institute employee. "We don’t think it’s a bioweapon. We’ll soon find out," he said in the Oval Office.
Asked whether Russia’s conduct reminded him of China at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump said: "China didn’t say much, and Russia’s not saying much either. But they say they have it under control."

A female employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East died after being diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown origin. Her contacts are under medical observation; Rospotrebnadzor said there had been no emergency at the institute, and the Kremlin dismissed most reports as untrue.