Russia will ban all international flights from midnight today. A government order to this effect has been issued as a part of the steps being taken against the corona virus epidemic.

According to the order published on the government website on Thursday, all aviation officials have been asked to stop all regular and chartered flights. Only those special flights will be allowed to land, which are carrying Russian citizens stranded in other countries.

The Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatasia will stop regular and charter flights to and from foreign airports in Russia. This ban will be effective from Friday midnight.

The order said that this ban will be exempted only for those flights whose approval will be given by the Russian government. Domestic flights to Russia will continue as before. There is no restriction on them.

The government has said that 'Russian citizens who are abroad and cannot return due to restrictions of the respective countries, they should take all precautions for their safety.'

In the order, the Finance Ministry has been asked to allocate funds to bring back the Russian citizens to the country. Those who return will have a health checkup and will have to stay on quarantine for two weeks.

There have been 658 cases of corona virus in Russia. Covid-19 patients died on Wednesday. Russia has closed its borders for foreign nationals last week only.