Russian President Vladimir Putin is now working remotely after a doctor he saw last week has tested positive for COVID-19. Russia has counted nearly three-thousand but experts say that number could be much higher with wider testing. Julia Chapman reports.

A hush has fallen over Moscow. And with it, a blanket of snow.

But there will be nobody out playing in this winter weather. Russia's capital is on lockdown and the rules are strict. Not even outdoor exercise is permitted.

VLADIMIR PUTIN Russian President "These measures are justified and necessary for huge, highly populated clusters that are the first to face coronavirus. I call on Muscovites and residents of the Moscow region to approach these necessary and unavoidable steps, the preventative and restrictive measures, with all seriousness and full responsibility. This is about your health and the safety and lives of those around you."

Russia was accused of a slow response to COVID-19. But after President Vladimir Putin visited the country's main treatment center, the government intensified measures.

And now the country's lead doctor fighting the virus has been diagnosed with it himself. The Kremlin says the president is being regularly tested.

JULIA CHAPMAN Moscow "Now that Moscow is under lockdown, other parts of Russia have followed suit. And parliament has even criminalized violating quarantine orders. As Russia faces the severity of the situation, the whole country is turning its attention to combating coronavirus."

In the early weeks of the outbreak, Russia's diagnosis numbers were comparatively low. But after a system of sending samples to Siberia was scrapped, the figures began to climb. Without widespread testing, accuracy is hard to establish. So laboratories are working to streamline the process.

ANZHEY ZHIMBIEV Chief Executive, DRD Biotech "This test could be done without special equipment. You don't need to get laboratory equipment and educated people. You can do it at home. This is the reason why we started this project. We think it should be done everywhere, that you should buy it in a drugstore, make it at an airport or railroad station. It should be done because the main thing is that you need to rapidly detect and triage and route the patients who have coronavirus to start the treatment or to isolate them."

While this lab is funded by government grants, it relies on donations for product development. And even with generous contributions, a finished home test is at least three months away.

But with a victory parade commemorating the end of World War Two planned in May, and a constitutional referendum on hold, the government is hoping to put coronavirus behind it long before then. Julia Chapman, CGTN, Moscow.