Angelina Melnikova who started competing for GAL Lissone team at the Italian Serie A this year will have to miss the next competition due to quarantine measures imposed by the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation. It seems that the federation is vetoing only the travel they deem non-essential as Russian gymnasts were allowed to travel to the Melbourne World Cup and Russia has not withdrawn from any other World Cups (Melnikova is slated to compete at the Stuttgart World Cup). The restrictions apply only to national team members and Tatiana Nabieva who is currently not on the national team was able to travel to Italy with no issues.
As Italy currently has only 21 cases of coronavirus, the measure seems to be a bit overly cautious. However, Russia is generally taking the virus very seriously. They closed their border with China and placed thousands of people under quarantine, in some cases employing a sophisticated facial recognition system. They went as far as to disconnect from the train and quarantine a full train car when one of the passengers, a Chinese woman, was suspected to have coronavirus. It is clear that locals are panicking even though there were only two confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Russia so far. For example, the parents of the children training at the Gymnastics Center in Kazan where a Fencing World Cup is taking place petitioned not to allow Chinese fencers to compete. The fencers in question have been training in Europe for more than two weeks before the World Cup and had not symptoms but that did not stop the petitions. Originally, local authorities prohibited the participation of Chinese athletes in the competition but later agreed to allow it, despite the protests, and instituted special measures to ensure the athletes are healthy. Additionally, the 800 young gymnasts training in the center will be transferred to another facility for the duration of the World Cup.
In Ukraine, where no cases of the novel coronavirus have been registered so far, the locals still disproportionately fear the virus. People protested the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from Wuhan by blocking roads, attacking the police, and attacking the buses with the evacuated Ukrainians. However, it seems that the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation placed no travel restrictions on their athletes and Vladislav Hryko will compete at the Serie A this weekend.
