COVID-19 Daily Cases In Russia To Rise Until New Year - Expert

The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Russia will be on the rise until New Year, but some regions may continue facing record daily spikes in infections even after the holidays, Russian infectious disease expert Evgeny Timakov told Sputnik on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2020) The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Russia will be on the rise until New Year, but some regions may continue facing record daily spikes in infections even after the holidays, Russian infectious disease expert Evgeny Timakov told Sputnik on Saturday.

"The number of infected will increase, yes, it does not depend on anything, will increase until New Year, we can do nothing with it. Maybe even after New Year, in some regions," Timakov said, adding that a daily spike in COVID-19 cases in Russia could reach 30,000, depending on the population's susceptibility to the virus.

According to Timakov, the number of daily COVID-19 infections is connected to the number of tests, the majority of which are taken at the beginning of the week. The results of the tests become available later, that is why the highest daily spikes of COVID-19 cases are recorded on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

"If we look at the flat curve for all this period, we will see that the infection is spreading, but gradually, not exponentially," Timakov said, warning against judging the situation using only limited data.

Timakov added that the situation in the capital of Moscow started to stabilize, but situation in regions would depend on the anti-coronavirus measures they would implement.

"In Moscow, the process is more or less stabilizing, there is no sharp increase in infected, that is why stabilization... is already coming. How the virus will affect the regions, will depend on the measures that will be implemented in the regions," Timakov said.

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin asked the government to launch mass vaccination against the coronavirus since next week. Earlier this day, 70 vaccination stations opened in Moscow's hospitals, which will deliver Sputnik V vaccine.

The country registered a new single-day record of 28,782 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, up from the 27,403 new positive tests recorded the day before. Moscow has confirmed a record 7,993 new coronavirus cases over the preceding 24 hours, up from 6,868 the day before.