MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. The measures taken by Russia to tackle the spread of the novel coronavirus were right and timely, WHO representative to Russia Melita Vujnovic said Tuesday.
"Not just the healthcare system, the whole of Russia responded to the pandemic very quickly and absolutely correctly. From the first case when it arrived from European countries, Russia managed to get enough time to prepare the whole system, reprofile hospital beds, it is very important. The measures were taken very timely," Vujnovic said.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, roughly 1,350,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 74,000 deaths have been reported. That said, over 286,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
To date, a total of 7,497 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 494 patients having recovered from the virus. Moscow accounts for the majority of cases (5,181). The country’s latest data indicates 58 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.