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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he had been diagnosed with the new coronavirus and was temporarily stepping down to recover.
Mishustin, 54, suggested that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov serve as acting prime minister in his absence. Putin, who appointed Mishustin in January, supported the proposal.
Mishustin, who has been one of the main coordinators of Russia’s response to the new coronavirus, is the first high-ranking Russian official to publicly say they have the virus. He broke the news hours after the number of confirmed cases of the virus in Russia surged past the 100,000 mark.
Mishustin told Putin about his diagnosis during a televised video conference.
