The Russian Health Agency on Wednesday ruled out the existence of any “epidemiological risk” threatening the residents of the city of Irkutsk and the surrounding region in Siberia, with successive calls for more transparency following the death of a laboratory employee at an institute specialized in studying plague.
The Public Health Agency (Rospotrebnadzor) said that medical monitoring of more than 90 percent of the people who had contact with the woman had ended, noting that “no health problems associated with an infectious disease have been detected,” stressing at the same time that “there is no epidemiological risk threatening the residents of the city of Irkutsk and its province,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Earlier, the World Health Organization asked Russia for more information about the cause of the death of a laboratory employee at the Plague Research Institute in Siberia, stressing the importance of transparency to fully understand the potential health risks. The Russian authorities stated that the 28-year-old employee died on Friday from pneumonia, the source of which was not yet known, which raised international concern and among officials, including US President Donald Trump, and led to about 200 people being initially placed in quarantine.
The authority responsible for health oversight in Russia said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among those in contact with the employee, Daria Shepilova. A local official said that 60 percent of those placed in quarantine were released. But WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement today that the organization needs additional information from Russia to fully understand the circumstances of the incident.
He added: “The World Health Organization requested more information to clarify the cause of severe pneumonia, the causative agent of the disease that required public health measures, and media reports that a second employee contracted pneumonia for unknown reasons.”
The Russian Authority stated that Shipilova died after suffering from pneumonia, but it did not announce the cause of the disease, or how she contracted it. There are different causes of pneumonia, including plague. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia informed the organization of Shepilova's death last week, in accordance with established procedures, and accused the media of spreading misleading information about the case.
Peskov was commenting on a report published by ABC News, in which it said that the United States had filed an official diplomatic complaint about Russia's handling of the employee's death, and urged Moscow to be more transparent about the incident. Peskov stated that most reports related to the incident are misleading, and people should rely on the information issued by the authority. Peskov added that a date has not yet been set for a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, who said on Tuesday that he would speak to him “very soon” about this issue.
Scattered closures were seen in French high schools and universities on Wednesday morning, including the elite Parisian Sciences Po institute, after mass marches on Tuesday.
As a precautionary measure, 528 schools remained completely or partially closed. Educational unions called for more demonstrations tomorrow, Thursday. Students are demanding better facilities in schools, more teachers, and improved study conditions, according to the German News Agency.
On the other hand, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced today, Wednesday, the suspension of the police’s use of stun grenades during student protests.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for restraint in this context during a crisis meeting on Tuesday evening, the Interior Minister told the RTL network.
The Ministry of the Interior said that 266,000 participated in protest marches in Paris and other cities yesterday, Tuesday, while educational unions estimated the number at 450,000 participants.
The government fears that the protests, exacerbated by rising fuel prices and the cost of living, will spread to other regions, and this will likely lead to an escalation of protests similar to the yellow vests, which sparked tensions in France in 2019.
Prime Minister Sebastian LeCorno is scheduled to deliver a speech this evening regarding schools, rising fuel prices, the agricultural crisis and the country's critical financial situation.
