MOSCOW, May 1. /TASS/. A surge in new cases of the coronavirus infection has been seen in Russia in the past two days, as compared with the stable situation during the week. However, this situation fits into the forecast of seven to ten days ago, Anna Popova, chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog, said on Friday.

"Both yesterday and today, we see a peak on the backdrop of a flatter situation for more than seven days. But even within this peak, nearly half of patients are symptomless. We just see realization of the risks we spoke about seven to ten days ago. This situation has been forecasted," she said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

According to Popova, a number of regions, including Moscow, Novosibirsk, and North Ossetia are demonstrating maximal morbidity rates. "We cannot expect any improvements when people violate all possible and impossible requirements. It is better to arm oneself with patience for a couple of weeks more and the situation will surely stabilize," she stressed.

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 3.2 million people have been infected worldwide and more than 230,000 deaths have been reported.

To date, a total of 114,431 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 13,220 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates1,169 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.