Dozens of infections in Putin entourage has forced him to self-isolate ‘for a few days’. The Russian leader reveals the COVID-19 outbreak in his inner circle involves dozens of people and that he will self-isolate for a while. On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he was self-isolating after several members of his entourage fell ill with COVID-19, including someone he worked with in close proximity and had been in close contact with all of the previous day. He already had his two shots of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
He explained the situation to a government meeting by video conference after the Kremlin stated that he was “absolutely” healthy and did not have the disease himself. He also added, “It’s a natural experiment. Let’s see how Sputnik V works in practice. I have quite high levels of antibodies. Let’s see how that plays out in real life. I hope everything will be as it should be.” Putin, 68, stated that the circumstances had forced him to cancel a planned trip to Tajikistan this week for regional security meetings expected to focus on Afghanistan, but that he would take part by video conference instead.
