Moscow, June 03: Some 500 citizens of China and ietnam have been expelled from Moscow and deported over fears of the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a top police official said today. Ria Novosti reported that Vladimir Pronin, of the city's police department, reported during a city government meeting that fears over SARS meant that "all prostitutes (from former Soviet republics) also had to be expelled from the city."
Russia has implemented a series of drastic measures in a bid to fend off SARS, closing down most of its border crossings with China and Mongolia and almost entirely shutting down air travel to China.
It shares a border thousands of kilometers long with China, the country worst affected by the disease with more than 5,300 infections and 334 deaths.
Bureau Report