Shelekhov residents describe hospital isolation and rumours

Oksana, 35, told journalists she was in Shelekhov’s maternity ward when staff stopped allowing people in or out after news of the laboratory worker’s death. She described four days in hospital. AFP (Agence France-Presse, the French international news agency) published her account on 8 October. She withheld her surname.

Medical-centre employee Alexandra Iskalova, 22, described unverified death reports and a fictional illness circulating as rumours. Alina, 22, reported masks at her brother’s school and her institute-employed aunt’s isolation. Interview times, school orders and hospital documents have not been obtained.

The reporter observed outwardly calm streets alongside worried interviewees. This is a reporting observation, not a citywide survey. The Luxembourg publication carries the same story.

Original displayed time: 8 October, 11:53 without timezone; publication metadata 11:53:38 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), modification 10:00:02 UTC. Syndication metadata: 09:53:38 UTC, updated 11:55:41 UTC; Irkutsk 17:53:38 and 19:55:41. Timestamp discrepancy and modification preceding publication remain unexplained. Interview times and the four-day period unestablished. Added to research on 8 October.