MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/. A total of 292,000 people remain under medical surveillance in Russia due to being suspected of having contracted the novel coronavirus, the press service of Russia’s consumer protection watchdog, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, reported on Friday.

"[A total of] 292,000 people remain under medical surveillance in Russia," the press service said.

According to the watchdog, more than 4.98 million coronavirus tests have been conducted across the country, 184,200 tests have been conducted over the past 24 hours.

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.

Over 3,800,000 people have been infected worldwide so far and more than 265,000 deaths have been reported. According to Russia’s anti-coronavirus crisis center, a total of 177,160 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 23,803 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 1,625 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.