Russia resumes flights to Greece from Feb 8

Russia has decided to resume flights to and from Greece starting from February 8 as the spread of the coronavirus infection has slowed, the government said on Thursday.

It said the planes will fly twice a week from Moscow to Athens. It also said there will be three flights per week to Singapore from the Russian capital.

The government also said that other than Moscow, several Russian airports, including in Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk and Khabarovsk, will resume some international flights from February 8.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the Covid-19 pandemic in Russia was gradually receding, but that Russians should not let down their guard.

Russia reported 19,138 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, including 2,897 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 3,793,810 since the pandemic began last year. Authorities say the Russian death toll from the pandemic stands at 71,651 as of Thursday. [Reuters]