MOSCOW: Russia will halt all international flights from midnight on Friday as a new measure against the coronavirus outbreak.

The government decree to that end was published on Thursday orders aviation authorities to halt all regular and charter flights, with the exception of special flights evacuating Russian citizens from abroad, Reuters reported.

Russia’s civil aviation agency Rosaviatsiya will halt “regular and charter air travel from Russian airports to airports of foreign states and back,” according to the decree published on the government’s website.

The grounding starts at midnight Friday, or 2100 GMT Thursday.

He also took the unusual step of declaring March 28 to April 5 a non-working week in order to slow the spread of the virus, urging Russians to stay at home.

Putin also unveiled measures to boost the economy, including breaks on consumer loans and mortgage payments.

(With inputs from agencies)