Putin Is Ending Self-Isolation For Covid Exposure, Kremlin Says

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is ending his self-isolation following exposure to Covid-19 amid an outbreak among his staff earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

Putin will meet in the Black Sea resort of Sochi with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later in the day, Peskov said, his first such in-person meeting since his self-isolation was announced Sept. 14. 

The 68-year-old Russian leader showed no public sign of illness in the two weeks since then, conducting his regular schedule of meetings via video links. Putin said he took his country’s Sputnik V vaccine earlier this year. 

An outbreak of Covid-19 in recent weeks caused dozens of cases among Kremlin staff, the result of employees failing to get booster shots in time, the president said after isolating. 

Nationally, Russia is suffering a new rise in cases, with authorities reporting record deaths for the last two days. With only about a third of the population vaccinated, regional authorities are reimposing some restrictions and reopening temporary hospitals.

“The situation is serious grounds for another mobilization,” Peskov said. While regional authorities have taken restrictive measures, he said there’s no discussion yet on the federal level of potential national steps to combat the spread of the virus.

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