Woman who fled Covid-19 hospital quarantine after trip to China takes Russian government to European Court over loss of liberty
A Russian who escaped from a hospital after being told to remain quarantined upon arriving from China at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, saying she was deprived of liberty.
Alla Ilyina, a resident of Saint Petersburg, made headlines worldwide in February 2020 when it was revealed that some Russians were leaving medical institutions after testing negative for Covid-19, despite being ordered to remain inside for two weeks.
The rule was imposed by health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor at the start of the pandemic, when the majority of cases were being reported from within China, and countries around the world were trying to prevent coronavirus spreading. However, at that time, no lockdown had yet been imposed, and the official resolution requiring isolation for 14 days when arriving from abroad was signed a whole month later.
"On the 4th, I had a sore throat. I had no temperature," she told Moscow daily RBK. "On February 6, they took me to the hospital, promised it was only for one day. On the 7th the doctor came and said: 'Congratulations, you are healthy, the tests have confirmed it! But we will keep you here for two weeks.'"
Frustrated, Ilyina left after just one day in the facility. She initially complained to a local district court, but a judge upheld the order for her to remain within the city's Botkin Hospital.
Now, she has complained to the ECHR, explaining that Russian law can only force hospitalization due to mental disorders or tuberculosis. Ilyina believes that Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to liberty and security of person – was violated.
Also on rt.com Sick joke: Blogger arrested after brutal coronavirus prank on Moscow subway (VIDEO)"There is no coronavirus in the list of infectious diseases referred-to in the convention, and there are no similar national norms for the forced hospitalization of Russians suspected of Covid-19," said Irina Khrunova, Ilyina's lawyer.
Russia recorded its first cases of coronavirus on January 31, when two Chinese nationals tested positive in the cities of Tyumen and Chita. The next positive tests were found almost a month later, on February 23, when eight Russians from the cruise ship Diamond Princess were evacuated and three tested positive.
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