Russian activists taking supplies to hospital detained

Russian police detained activists trying to deliver protective gear to a hospital on Thursday amid widespread reports of shortages of masks and hazmat suits.

Members of the Alliance of Doctors union, supported by opposition politician Alexei Navalny, started a fundraising campaign this week to buy protective gear for hospitals in need.

On Thursday, the union's leader Anastasia Vasilyeva and a group of activists drove to a hospital 400 kilometres east of Moscow, with the first batch of masks, gloves, hazmat suits and protective glasses.

The police stopped the group on the highway and slapped them with fines for violating lockdown regulations.

The group made it to the hospital and delivered the equipment, but then Vasilyeva was detained again, reportedly for defying police orders.

According to the activists, one of the officers punched Vasilyeva in the stomach in the process.

Russia has so far reported 4,149 сases of the new coronavirus.

The number of cases has been growing rapidly, almost doubling every three days.

Despite the government assuring that Russia's health care system is fully prepared, doctors and hospitals from all over the country have been regularly complaining about the shortages of protective gear and medical equipment.

Alliance of Doctors has become one of the most vocal critics of the Kremlin’s response to the outbreak, accusing the authorities of downplaying the scale of it and pressuring medics to work without sufficient protection.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.