Russia drags woman back into quarantine facility

A Russian lady, Alla Illyina was ordered by the court on Monday to be returned to a quarantine facility as a precaution against coronavirus after she staged an elaborate escape and said she was being kept against her will.

She was quarantined at St. Petersburg’s Botkin Hospital for Infectious Diseases after she reported having a sore throat following a trip last month to China, where a coronavirus epidemic has killed more than 1,700 people.

Ilyina described on Instagram how she had short-circuited an electronic lock on her door in order to escape and that she had not been allowed to leave despite doctors giving her a clean bill of health.


The escape, which raised questions about the effectiveness and rigidity of Russia’s coronavirus quarantine measures, prompted St. Petersburg’s chief sanitary doctor to sue Ilyina for flouting quarantine rules and jeopardizing public health.

“Ilyina is subject to forced hospitalization,” St. Petersburg’s Petrogradsky District Court said, adding that her hearing had taken place in a courtroom with a germicidal lamp.

Her lawyer, Vitaly Cherkasov, said she would appeal the verdict. He added that Illyina was in good spirits despite the ruling.

“She has everything necessary in her room, even television which she didn’t have last time,” he said.

“She is satisfied with the conditions at the moment.”