Russia sends Coronavirus diagnostic tools to EAEU, CIS: Consumer Rights Watchdog

Russia is handing over the diagnostic tools for detecting the new coronavirus to member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), which developed the tools, said on Monday.

According to the agency, Moscow has already handed over the same test systems to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

"The Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare is sending the tools of laboratory diagnostics for the new coronavirus developed by ... Rospotrebnadzor to its partner states on a non-reimbursable basis to assist the EAEU and CIS member states in preventing the spread of the coronavirus," the agency said in a statement.

The novel coronavirus, which was first detected in China's Wuhan city in late December, has since spread to more than 20 countries. The death toll stands at 361 in China alone, while over 17,000 people have been infected worldwide. The first coronavirus-related death outside of China was confirmed in the Philippines on Sunday.