were also confirmed in 23 regions including first cases in chuvashia, yakutia, khabarovsk krai, ivanovo, murmansk, orenburg, ryazan, saratov, tula, voronezh oblasts, and khanty-mansi autonomous okrug, bringing the total number to 199. on 20 march, 54 new cases were confirmed, including 33 in moscow, 6 in yakutia, 4 in saint petersburg, 4 in samara oblast, 2 in kirov oblast, 2 in novosibirsk oblast, 1 in moscow oblast, 1 in tyumen oblast, and the first case in ulyanovsk oblast. on 21 march, 53 new cases were confirmed in 18 federal subjects, including first cases in kabardino-balkaria (2 cases), stavropol krai, chelyabinsk oblast, kurgan oblast, and disputed republic of crimea (1 case each). on 22 march, 61 new cases were confirmed, including 54 in moscow, 2 in kirov oblast, 1 case in arkhangelsk oblast, first cases in udmurtia (2 cases), bryansk oblast, and novgorod oblast (1 case each). on 23 march, 71 new cases were confirmed, all of them in moscow. president putin visits coronavirus patients at moscow hospital on 24 march. on 24 march, 57 new cases were confirmed, including first cases in primorsky krai, oryol oblast, the chechen republic, volgograd oblast and bashkortostan. people at yaroslavsky suburban railway line, 25 march on 25 march, 163 new cases were confirmed, 120 of them in moscow, with first cases in pskov oblast and rostov oblast. 2 deaths were also later reported and confirmed in moscow. the patients were 73 and 88 years old and had been tested positive for the coronavirus. on 26 march, 182 new cases were confirmed, 136 of them in moscow, with first cases in buryatia. according to a source in the hospital and an official report to the prosecutor office, an 83-year-old woman (a patient of a surgeon who got sick earlier, see 31 march) died in syktyvkar of covid-19, the death was covered up by the local authorities and not included in the official count. an official working under the chief of staff of the prime minister also tested positive for the coronavirus that day. the government also ordered the civil aviation authority to suspend all regular and charter flights to and from the country from 27 march. on 27 march, 196 new cases were confirmed, 157 of them in moscow, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,036. the first cases in mordovia and dagestan were confirmed. an additional death in moscow, a 70-year-old woman with pre-existing conditions who tested positive for coronavirus, was also confirmed. on the same day, the kremlin confirmed that an employee of the presidential administration tested positive for the coronavirus, saying that the official had no contact with the president. russian singer lev leshchenko was also confirmed to have tested positive for the virus. later in the day, the 4th death was reported, a 56-year-old woman with one lung due to cancer, also in moscow. on 28 march, the fifth patient died in orenburg, the first death outside of moscow. the 57-year-old man from buzuluk, orenburg oblast had travelled in france, spain and turkey in march. he had a chronic pathology. 228 new cases were confirmed, 114 of them in moscow, bringing the total number of cases to 1,264. first cases were confirmed in adygea, kostroma, sakhalin and smolensk oblasts. later that day, two deaths were reported in saint petersburg and moscow. that day, the government announced that the border would be shut on 30 march, with all border crossings closed in order to curb the virus. international flights were already grounded. on 29 march, 270 new cases were confirmed, 197 of them in moscow, bringing the total number in the city to 1,014 and in the country to 1,534. mayor of moscow sergey sobyanin later in the day announced that the city would be on lockdown starting the next day. irkutsk oblast, amur oblast and omsk oblast all had their first confirmed cases. the total number of confirmed deaths reached 8. on 30 march, 302 new cases were confirmed, including 212 in moscow, bringing the total number to 1,836. the first cases were found in kalmykia, mari el, altai krai, vladimir oblast, and vologda oblast. the number of deaths rose to 9. lockdowns were also announced in numerous other federal subjects, with many more announcing similar restrictions over the next few days. on 31 march, 500 new cases were confirmed, 387 of them in moscow and 48 of them in st. petersburg, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,337 in the 7th consecutive one-day record. first cases in magadan oblast and astrakhan oblast were confirmed that day. the number of confirmed deaths almost doubled from 9 the previous day to 17. the medical director of moscow's main coronavirus hospital in kommunarka, denis protsenko, was also reported to have tested positive for the coronavirus. a 61-year-old female, manager of the syktyvkar hospital, which became a focus of the disease after a surgeon got sick on 16 march, died of covid-19, but again, as with the death of a patient of the hospital surgical department on 26 march (see above), the death was not included in the official statistic even despite the pathology lab officially confirmed the diagnosis to the local media. april 2020 on 1 april, 440 new cases were confirmed, with 267 of them in moscow, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,777. the first cases were confirmed in kursk oblast and north ossetia. the number of confirmed deaths rose by 7 to 24. president putin also signed legislation imposing severe punishments for those convicted of spreading false information about the coronavirus and breaking quarantine rules. kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov told reporters that president putin is practising social-distancing and holding meetings remotely. it was also reported by kommersant that several regions had limited the sales of alcohol, including khakassia, karelia and bashkortostan, with some areas in yakutia including yakutsk completely banning the sale of alcohol. on 2 april, 771 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 3,548. the number of confirmed deaths rose by 8 to 30. empty proletarskaya station of the nizhny novgorod metro during the quarantine period. on 3 april, 601 new cases were confirmed, including the first cases in ingushetia and the jewish autonomous oblast, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4,149. the number of confirmed deaths rose by 4 to 34. on 4 april, 582 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 4,731, with the number of confirmed deaths reaching 43. on 5 april, 658 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 5,389, with the first two cases being confirmed in kamchatka krai. confirmed deaths rose to 45. on 6 april, 954 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 6,343, with the first two cases being confirmed in the republic of karelia. confirmed deaths rose to 47. social distancing measures at a store in moscow. on 7 april, 1,154 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 7,497, with the first three cases being confirmed in karachay-cherkessia. confirmed deaths rose to 58. moscow city duma deputy mikhail timonov was reported to have tested positive for the virus. playground closed for quarantine, 7 april 2020. on 8 april, 1,175 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 8,672. confirmed deaths rose to 63. on 9 april, 1,459 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 10,131. confirmed deaths rose to 76. it was also announced in moscow that all patients with pneumonia would be regarded as potentially having coronavirus. that same day, the health minister of the komi republic, dmitry berezin, confirmed his resignation. the republic became one of the country's coronavirus hotspots. on 10 april, 1,786 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 11,917, with the first six cases being confirmed in tuva. on 11 april, 1,667 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 13,584. confirmed deaths rose to 106. moscow's mayor, sobyanin, signed a decree introducing a digital pass system to enforce the coronavirus lockdown, in which residents would require such a permit to travel around the city and moscow oblast using personal and public transport, with different types of passes including travelling to work, visiting hospitals and clinics, and private trips. such permits would become mandatory on 15 april. on 12 april, 2,186 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 15,770. confirmed deaths rose to 130. on 13 april, 2,558 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 18,328. confirmed deaths rose to 148. on 14 april, 2,774 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 21,102. confirmed deaths rose to 170. that same day, moscow's health department warned that the city could face a shortage of hospital beds within the next 2 to 3 weeks. another 24 hospitals would be planned to be converted to accommodate coronavirus patients to bring the total number of hospital beds to 21,000. on 15 april, 3,388 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 24,490. the first cases were recorded in chukotka and nenets autonomous okrugs. confirmed deaths rose to 198. on 16 april, 3,448 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 27,938. confirmed deaths rose to 232. that same day, local media reported that 1/3 of all coronavirus infections in leningrad oblast were concentrated in one hostel housing migrant workers involved in the construction of a nearby ikea-owned shopping mall. local authorities called the hostel illegal and opened a criminal probe. the region's governor, aleksandr drozdenko, ordered an inspection of all hostels as a result. russia's largest technology company, yandex, also announced the launch of the delivery of coronavirus tests for elderly muscovites, with the first 10,000 tests being delivered for free. it also said that the service would be later expanded to include all age-groups and other regions, and that it may launch the delivery of antibody tests in the future. moscow authorities also announced that all cases of acute respiratory infections would be suspected of being coronavirus cases. people in moscow wearing face masks on 17 april, 4,070 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 32,008. the first case was confirmed in the last federal subject, the altai republic. confirmed deaths rose to 273. that same day, the head of the consumer protection watchdog rospotrebnadzor said that around half of the cases in russia were asymptomatic. on 18 april, 4,785 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 36,793. confirmed deaths rose to 313. that day, the head of moscow's health department said that around 60% of cases in the city were asymptomatic, compared to around 40% a week ago. on 19 april, 6,060 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 42,853. confirmed deaths rose to 361. that same day, it was reported that in arkhangelsk oblast, more than 70 patients and employees at a psychiatric hospital tested positive for coronavirus. on 20 april, 4,268 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 47,121. confirmed deaths rose to 405. in vladikavkaz, several hundred demonstrators protested in a rally against the self-isolation regime, some of whom were detained by police. the kremlin's spokesman, dmitry peskov, called the rally illegal and said that it could have negative consequences due to the lack of social distancing. that same day, yandex announced that it would make its home coronavirus testing service free of charge for all residents of moscow and nearby of all ages and will be available to other regions in the future. previously, it announced the launch of the service on 16 april. example of digital pass in moscow which was required from 15 april to enforce the lockdown. on 21 april, 5,642 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 52,763. confirmed deaths rose to 456. that same day, it was reported that 56-year-old maxim starinsky became the first doctor to die from coronavirus complications in russia, having died the previous day in kommunarka hospital after working at veterans hospital no.3 in moscow. according to a colleague, 64 medical workers at the hospital tested positive for the virus last week, two of whom are in intensive care. a new hospital in moscow that was built in a month to treat coronavirus patients began accepting patients that same day when the number of confirmed cases in moscow reached 29,433 with 233