Russia Orders Military Hospital Ship Deployment as COVID-19 Cases Reach Over 1,000

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] As the number of patients infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rapidly increases in Russia, the deployment of hospital ships is being considered.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS on the 8th, Sergey Shoigu, Russia's Minister of Defense, recently instructed the Pacific Fleet to prepare for the deployment of the hospital ship Irtysh.

The Irtysh, built in 1981, is a hospital ship that has recently undergone remodeling and is equipped with the latest medical equipment. Russia explained that it aims to reduce the burden on other medical facilities through the deployment of hospital ships.

Previously, the United States also deployed hospital ships on the East and West coasts. The U.S. similarly sought to alleviate the burden on frontline hospitals by handling existing medical demand through hospital ships.

Russia initially did not experience many COVID-19 cases due to border closure measures and even provided medical supplies to countries like the U.S. However, the situation has escalated into a crisis with daily infections reaching the 1,000 range.

Because of this, Russia has entered a state of emergency, postponing scheduled constitutional amendment plans. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also instructed the Ministry of Defense to establish infectious disease treatment centers during a government meeting.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S., Russia has a cumulative total of 7,497 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 58 deaths. However, the number of new confirmed cases has sharply increased, surpassing 1,000 daily.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.