Russian arts minister tests positive for coronavirus

MOSCOW: Russia´s culture minister has tested positive for coronavirus, her spokeswoman said Wednesday, as the country´s total number of cases surpassed 165,000. The announcement of the minister Olga Lyubimova´s illness came after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev had both been hospitalised with the virus. Lyubimova is working remotely from home after receiving a positive test result, her spokeswoman Anna Usachyova said in a statement. “The illness is in a mild form and there is no question of her being hospitalised.

Lyubimova, a former journalist and documentary filmmaker, was appointed in January and is one of the youngest in the cabinet at 39. She replaced a controversial figure, Vladimir Medinsky, who pushed hard for publicly-funded arts to focus on patriotic themes such as World War II.