A 79-year-old woman became the first death from nCoV in Russia, where more than 140 cases were recorded.

The patient was taken to a private clinic on March 13 and transferred to a hospital for infectious diseases a few days later. She was positive for nCoV and was placed in isolation for intensive care due to respiratory failure.

"Elderly patients suffer from a number of chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, arterial disease and hypertension," said Svetlana Krasnova, a doctor at Moscow Hospital of Infectious Diseases No. 2, today.

The government made a list of people who have recently had contact with patients. All are under close medical supervision and no cases of nCoV infection have been detected.

Russia currently records more than 140 nCoV infections, of which 8 have recovered. The country has stopped or significantly reduced trains to Ukraine, Latvia, China, Mongolia and many other countries. Moscow also advises citizens not to go to Italy, South Korea and Iran, major outbreaks in the world, to prevent the disease from spreading.

Moscow's government on March 18 called on elderly people to stay away from crowded places like cafes and shopping centers. President Vladimir Putin this week said the Covid-19 situation in Russia was "generally under control", pledging to step up testing.

Russia first closed the border to prevent Covid-19 on January 30, applying a border longer than 4,100 km bordering China. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin yesterday announced that he would close the border with Belarus from March 16 to prevent nCoV from spreading.

Covid-19 has appeared in more than 170 countries and territories, causing more than 200,000 infections, nearly 9,000 deaths and more than 85,000 recovering.