MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking precautions to protect himself against coronavirus after the head of the country's main coronavirus hospital tested positive following a meeting with the president, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

As part of precautionary measures, the Russian president has decided to handle his duties remotely.

"The president prefers these days to work remotely," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"We are taking all precautionary measures," he said, adding that Putin was at the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow.

Asked if Putin had changed the way he greeted people and was now keeping a distance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

Of course, now everyone is maintaining a social distance. Everyone is doing this."

Later in the day, Putin was scheduled to hold a government meeting by video conference, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Denis Protsenko, the doctor who met with Putin last week as the Russian leader visited Moscow’s main coronavirus hospital in Moscow, said on Tuesday he had been infected with the coronavirus but was self-isolating in his office.

Russia expanded its coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday to cover more of its sprawling territory as the official tally of infections rose to 2,777, a one-day increase of 440. Twenty-four people have so far died in Russia, Reuters reporting quoting the Russian authorities. — Agencies