Lockdown across Russia as fear of a new outbreak of the plague spreads. It began when lab worker Daria Shipilova got infected and died within two days. Dozens of workers have been isolated, and five hospitals are in quarantine, as the risk of Shipilova being infected with pneumonic plague was considered.

In addition, there are disturbing reports of men walking around in protective suits and temperature checks being conducted on those flying to Moscow from the area. As for Russia, which doesn’t use the word “plague” to describe Daria’s death, the authorities are attempting to conceal the whole incident.

The US Secretary of State has commented on the incident, stating that there is no cause for concern in the US, but that they are monitoring the situation. US President Donald Trump also talked about the incident and said, “This is a big problem with Russia; we are always ready to help anybody that has such a problem.”

The 28-year-old lab technician at the Antiplague Research Institute in Irkutsk apparently caught the disease when the test tube used for the study of a bacterium that causes the disease broke while she was working on it on September 25. Four days later, she was admitted to a nearby city hospital, Shelekhov, with pneumonia.

Two days later, she died.

The hospital in which Shupilova was hospitalised and at least 197 people who could have been infected were moved into medical isolation, including over 100 people who were hospitalised in the wards. In addition, local authorities cancelled public events in the city of Irkutsk, and law enforcement agencies opened a criminal investigation on suspicion of health and safety violations that resulted in death.