A senior doctor in Russia plunged 50 ft from her office window during a conference call when she was told her hospital would be forced to take in coronavirus patients, say reports.

Dr Yelena Nepomnyashchaya, 47, a mother of two, had objected to the move because of an 'acute shortage' of personal protection equipment for doctors and nurses, it is claimed.

She is now fighting for her life in intensive care after the fifth floor fall but medics are 'refusing to talk' about her chances of survival, according to TVK Krasnoyarsk.

Doctor Yelena Nepomnyashchaya, 47, plunged 50 ft from her office window when she was told her hospital would be forced to take in coronavirus patients, say reports

The respected doctor was on a call with Krasnoyarsk regional Minister of Health Boris Nemik when she suddenly fell.

Reports say she had been told that 80 beds in one section of her veteran's hospital at Vilskogo Street, was to be given over for coronavirus patients.

She was against the plan because of a shortage of protective equipment for doctors at Krasnoyarsk Regional Hospital for War Veterans, which she runs, say local reports in the Siberian city.

The regional Ministry of Health have since claimed that the hospital was ready to accept Covid-19 patients.

Reports say Ms Nepomnyashchaya had been told that 80 beds in one section of her veteran's hospital at Vilskogo Street, was to be given over for coronavirus patients

She was against plan because of a shortage of protective equipment for doctors at Krasnoyarsk Regional Hospital for War Veterans, which she runs, say local reports

Deputy head of Krasnoyarsk region's government Aleksey Podkorytov claimed the reason for her fall on Saturday may have had other explanations than reported by the local media.

'So many things could have happened,' he speculated.

'It could have been because it was Spring, the overall stress, something in her family.

'It's difficult to say what could have happened.

'There was nothing extraordinary happening at the time, just a routine conference call with doctors' reports.

Pictured: Doctor Yelena Nepomnyashchaya (left). The tragedy follows other reports of that doctors in a number of Russian regions have quit their jobs in protest over a lack of PPE

'If we were to fail after each routine conference call this would have not led to anything good.'

He added: 'At the time (of the accident) there were no patients with coronavirus, yet the hospital was on high alert with all necessary equipment in place.

'She just reported that there were no coronavirus patients.

'They in fact started to be admitted into the hospital, but only a very few with the lightest form of the virus.'

Police are now investigating the woman's fall and the circumstances surrounding it.

Krasnoyarsk is capital city of the second largest region in the Russian Federation.

The tragedy follows other reports of that doctors in a number of Russian regions have quit their jobs in protest over a lack of PPE.

Deputy head of Krasnoyarsk region's government Aleksey Podkorytov (right) claimed there were other reasons for her fall on Saturday. The respected doctor was on a call with Krasnoyarsk regional Minister of Health Boris Nemik (left) when she suddenly fell

Doctors are quitting hospitals over lack of personal protection equipment in the country, which now has 173,000 suspected of suffering from coronavirus.

At the same time, the Kremlin is gearing up to send 40-plus tonnes of medicine to cash-strapped Venezuela.

The 173,000 figure from government health and consumer agency Rospotrebnadzor of 'suspected' cases is separate from the confirmed cases which now number 80,949, a rise today of 6,361, a Russian record.

This means 253,949 are now either confirmed cases or suspected of suffering from coronavirus.

The latest daily death figure is 66, equal to Russia's worst to date, 24 hours earlier. The total death toll is 747, while 6,767 have recovered.

Russia has conducted more than 2.8 million tests, putting it ahead of Germany and second only to the US, say officials.

Until now, Russia has lagged behind many major countries in the rate of infections but officials fear they will see a peak here only in mid-May, still three weeks away.