Russia's coronavirus cases surpass 20,000 after record daily rise of 2,774

MOSCOW (NYTIMES, REUTERS) - For weeks, the coronavirus pandemic had the makings of a Kremlin propaganda coup; even as Western countries succumbed one by one, Russia appeared invincible, recording fewer than 100 new cases a day through late March despite its tightly packed cities, global travel connections and 4,200km land border with China.

But it has become clear in recent days that Russia is unlikely to escape a severe hit by the pandemic, presenting an existential test to the country's teetering health system and a new challenge to the aura of rising confidence and competence projected by President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin.

"We have a lot of problems, and we don't have much to brag about nor reason to, and we certainly can't relax," Mr Putin told senior officials on Monday (April 13). "We are not past the peak of the epidemic, not even in Moscow."

Mr Putin warned of overworked medical staff and shortages of protective equipment, acknowledging what critics said was long clear: that Russia's health system could be strained beyond its breaking point by the pandemic and that the government needed to do more to get ready.

There were also worrying signs of the pandemic spreading outside Moscow. The government airlifted a field hospital to an Arctic town near the border with Norway, where hundreds of workers at a construction site were feared infected.

The town of Vyazma, 200km west of Moscow, was closed off because of an outbreak at a nursing home, and 1,000 people were reported to be under quarantine in a hospital in the south-central city of Ufa.

On Tuesday, Russia reported 2,774 new cases of the coronavirus, a record daily rise, bringing its overall nationwide tally to 21,102, the country's coronavirus response centre said.

It said 170 people in Russia diagnosed with the virus have now died, an overnight rise of 22.

In a videoconference Monday, Mr Putin directed officials to take steps to remedy shortages in medical workers' protective equipment and to share ventilators and medicine across Russia's far-flung regions to respond to geographic differences in demand.

"All scenarios of how the situation could develop must be taken into account, including the most difficult and extraordinary ones," Mr Putin said.

Russia has become China's largest source of imported cases, with a total of 409 infections originating in the country, and Chinese citizens should stay put and not return home, the state-owned Global Times said in an editorial.

"Russia is the latest example of a failure to control imported cases and can serve as a warning to others," said the paper, which is run by the Communist Party's People's Daily.

"The Chinese people have watched Russia become a severely affected country... This should sound the alarm: China must strictly prevent the inflow of cases and avoid a second outbreak."

China's northeastern border province of Heilongjiang saw 79 new cases of imported coronavirus cases on Monday. All the new cases were Chinese citizens travelling back into the country from Russia, state media said on Tuesday. They formed the bulk of new cases on the Chinese mainland, which stood at 89.

Heilongjiang's provincial authority said on Tuesday that it had established a hotline to reward citizens for reporting illegal immigrants crossing into the province. According to a notice, people supplying verified information about illegal cross-border crimes will be granted 3,000 yuan (S$602). Those who apprehend the illegal immigrants themselves and hand them over to the authorities will be given 5,000 yuan.

As of Tuesday, China had reported 82,249 coronavirus cases and 3,341 deaths. There were no deaths in the past 24 hours. Mongolia's health ministry also confirmed 13 new cases on Tuesday, all imported from Russia.