Jailed Russian Yaroshenko Says US Prison Denies Coronavirus Tests for Inmates - Lawyer

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko, imprisoned in the United States, said authorities at his prison have refused to test inmates for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, his lawyer Alexey Tarasov said on Friday.

"Yaroshenko told me that this week, two days ago, they were summoned by the unit officer and one of the inmates asked when they may be tested for coronavirus,” Tarasov said. “At which point, according to Yaroshenko, the prison officials responded that they thought everybody was positive with the virus but they are not going to test anybody at that stage."

The Russian Embassy in Washington has requested an additional health evaluation of Yaroshenko to prevent him from getting infected with the coronavirus, Ambassador Anatoly Antonov announced on Friday.