COVID19 Situation In Russia To Get Worse In February-March, Epidemiologist Tells Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2020) Another spike in coronavirus cases is expected in Russia in February-March, Natalya Pshenichnaya, Deputy Director for Clinical and Analytical Work of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, Russia's national public health watchdog, told Sputnik.

"After the New Year holidays, in February-March, the epidemiological process will intensify again and we will probably return to summer figures only closer to the summer [of 2021]," Pshenichnaya said.

She explained that in order for COVID-19 cases to take a downward turn the majority of the population needs to become unresponsive to the virus, either through vaccination, or by acquiring antibodies after recovering from the coronavirus infection, or thanks to the lymphocytes' cell memory that will help fight the infection without antibodies.

On Monday, Russia registered a new record single-day increase of 17,347 COVID-19 cases, taking the cumulative total to more than 1.53 million, according to the country's coronavirus response center.

The largest increase was registered in the capital Moscow, where 5,224 new positive COVID-19 tests were confirmed � up from 4,455 the day before.

In the second week of October Pshenichnaya told Sputnik that she expected coronavirus cases to plateau in Russia within 10-20 days.