Putin approves new insurance payments for healthcare workers affected by COVID-19

President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree outlining additional insurance guarantees for healthcare workers treating confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients. The text of the decree was published on the government's online legal portal.

Doctors, ambulance drivers, and other mid-level and junior medical personnel who contract the coronavirus while on the job are now eligible for a one-time insurance benefit.

In the event that a healthcare worker dies of COVID-19, their relatives will receive over 2.7 million rubles (approximately $37,200). If a medical worker suffers damage to their health and is temporarily incapacitated (not resulting in a permanent disability), they will receive over 68,811 rubles (approximately $930). 

A medical worker who becomes permanently disabled and loses their ability to work will receive a sum of either approximately $9,300, $18,600, or $27,900, depending on how their disability is categorized.

The payments will be made through the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation.

At the end of April, a website called the “Memory List” appeared online, which includes the names of all of the healthcare workers in Russia who have died during the coronavirus pandemic. The list has over 100 names so far.

According to the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, approximately 2,000 medical workers have contracted the coronavirus in Moscow alone.

On the morning of May 6, Russian officials announced that the country recorded 11,231 new coronavirus infections in the past day, bringing the nation’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 177,160 patients. Another 88 people reportedly died from the disease, raising Russia’s total number of fatalities caused by COVID-19 to 1,625.