According to the TASS news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated on Thursday that he would have to spend “a few days” in self-isolation after scores of people in his entourage were ill with COVID-19.

Putin was speaking via video link from Tajikistan during a summit of a Russia-led security bloc. Before the news of the virus epidemic among his closest circle this week, he had planned to attend in person.

Previously, it was unclear how widespread the infection was or how long Putin would be isolated.

“This is not just one person or two people, there are dozens of people,” he said.

“And now I have to remain in self-isolation for a few days.”

Putin, 68, who has had two shots of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, said this week he was now personally testing its efficiency while the Kremlin said the president himself was healthy.

The Kremlin has had a rigorous regime in place designed to keep Putin away from anyone with COVID-19.

Kremlin visitors have had to pass through special disinfection tunnels, journalists attending his events must undergo multiple PCR tests, and some people he meets are asked to quarantine beforehand and be tested.