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Bloomberg
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the army to send military staff and medical equipment to help the country’s largest gold miner, Polyus PJSC, fight the Covid-19 outbreak at its Siberian unit.
Personnel and more than
2 tons of medical equipment, including respirators, masks, gloves and protective suits, were delivered by aircraft to the city of Krasnoyarsk, the defense ministry said on its website. The equipment is being transferred near the Olimpiada gold mine, the biggest in Russia. The mine, which employs more than 3,400 people, including some accommodated in shift camps, has proven and probable reserves of 26 million ounces of gold. The number of infections has risen to 866, RIA Novosti reported Polyus Chief Executive Officer Pavel Grachev as telling journalists while visiting the mine. That’s almost half of total infections in the Krasnoyarsk region.
There’s no risk that the mine will stop operating, and shift workers are being isolated before starting work, Grachev said. The company didn’t comment further.
The army specialists will organise a field camp and mobile hospital. As many as 200 military staff, including 77 doctors and nurses, are being sent to the outbreak area, the ministry said. In Eruda village, where the mine operates, the army and the government provided about 1,500 beds for possible hospitalisation, regional Governor Alexander Uss said.
The number of medical specialists will be increased to 100 shortly, according to Ria Novosti.