'It's similar to the case in Wuhan': Alarm in Russia over lab worker's death from the plague

The death of a lab worker in Shelekhov, Russia, after contracting plague on the job has sparked accusations that President Vladimir Putin is trying to cover up the incident and conceal a possible outbreak.

The victim, identified as Daria Shipilova, about 28 years old, acknowledged before her death that a test tube containing live plague bacteria had accidentally broken. After contracting the disease, she died last Thursday.

Hundreds of people under medical surveillance

As a result of these events, regional authorities decided to quarantine hundreds of people who had contact with Shipilova after she became infected or who were working near the site of the leak.

According to The Moscow Times, approximately 200 people are under medical observation.

To date, none of those in quarantine have shown symptoms and test results have come back negative.

"It resembles the case in Wuhan"

Shipilova's account of the events before her death has led many to compare it to COVID-19, a pandemic that originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and killed more than 7 million people worldwide, according to data reported by national governments.

"The situation in Shelekhov, in the Irkutsk region, where a quarantine has been declared due to the plague, resembles the case of Wuhan," warned the Russian political channel Nezygar, in statements compiled by the New York Post.

Accusations of a cover-up against the Kremlin

The governor of Irkutsk, the region where the city of Shelekhov is located, Igor Kobzev, has refused to specify exactly what Shipilova contracted or what caused her death, describing it simply as "a dangerous infectious disease." Kobzev, who is close to Putin, has faced criticism.