Dmitry Peskov who is one of the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Spokesperson, has now informed state media on yesterday that he had contracted the novel coronavirus.

Though the 52 year Pesko made this known through a comment which reads “I am receiving treatment,” Peskov said in comments carried by state news agency and he has affirmed that the last time he had met with Putin in person was more than a month ago as a result of social distancing policy put in place by the government.

it will also be recalled that the Russia’s prime minister, culture minister and construction minister have also tested positive for the virus.

Yesterday, Russia’s novel coronavirus caseload surpassed 230,000 to become the world’s second-largest, behind the United States, according to comparative data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Although Russia’s caseload has been rising by more than 10,000 per day for the past week, officials have noted a slight decline in the growth rate as regions seek to lift lockdown quarantine measures that have devastated the economy.

In the meantime, Putin, who has been working remotely for a month to avoid contracting the disease, announced this week that a nationwide non-working period intended to curb the infection rate would end on Tuesday. Putin has tasked regional officials with determining when to lift stricter quarantine restrictions at the local level.

Russian domestic economic activities have declined by one-third since late March, according to Federal Government statistics announced last week. Russia has been conducting about 170,000 coronavirus tests per day,