Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he tested positive for the coronavirus and was receiving treatment in hospital, according to AFP.

“I am ill. I'm being treated,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies TASS and Interfax, which specified he had Covid-19.

Peskov is the fourth senior government official to have fallen ill, after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, culture minister Olga Lyubimova and construction minister Vladimir Yakushev said they tested positive for the coronavirus.