#Vladimir Putin has his own ‘disinfection tunnel’ to ward off coronavirus

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been protected from the coronavirus by installing a disinfectant tunnel for anyone who visits his residence outside Moscow, reported the state-controlled RIA news agency on Tuesday.

Demonstration footage of the tunnel, tweeted by RIA , showed masked people passing through it while being sprayed with disinfectant from the ceiling and from the side.

The Russian news agency described the disinfectant as a fine cloud of liquid that covered people’s clothes and any exposed upper body flesh.

However, the World Health Organization in May said, “Spraying of individuals with disinfectants (such as in a tunnel, cabinet, or chamber) is not recommended under any circumstances.”

“This practice could be physically and psychologically harmful and would not reduce an infected person’s ability to spread the virus through droplets or contact.”

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said in April that anyone meeting Putin in person was tested for the virus. A month later, Peskov said he had himself been infected.

A Russian doctor who gave Putin a televised tour of a Moscow hospital treating coronavirus patients also tested positive for the virus back in March.

Earlier in the week, Putin claimed Russia has handled the coronavirus pandemic better than the United States during his appearance on state TV.

“We are working rather smoothly and emerging from this situation with the coronavirus confidently and, with minimal losses. … But in the (United) States that is not happening,” said Putin.

Russia, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map, has the third-highest reported number of cases in the world, with 544,725.

It’s behind Brazil with 923,189 cases and the US with 2,136,208 cases.

Russia’s official death toll is 7,274 compared with America’s 116,905 — but its tallies have been met with skepticism.