MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. At least two weeks of strict coronavirus lockdown measures will be needed in Russia, Anna Popova, chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog, said on Friday.

"We cannot stop today. We cannot list all the measures because the risks of further spread and an outbreak period are still high if don’t observe at least one incubation period (two weeks - TASS)," she said at a meeting with the country’s leading experts in epidemiology and virology.

She stressed that lockdown measures must stay in place. "By today, we have been under strict lockdown for two incubation periods only," she said. "It is not enough to stop the infection and pass the point of no return. At least one more incubation period is needed," she added.

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, over 2,700,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 191,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 750,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, a total of 68,622 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 5,568 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 615 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.