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Coronavirus pandemic

Putin demands more effective tests for coronavirus

Russian President said that by mid-May their number will double

NOVO-OGAREVO, May 11. / TASS /. Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded more effective tests for coronavirus, by mid-May their number will double, he said at a meeting on measures to combat the spread of coronavirus on Monday.

He noted that over the past few weeks, the scale of testing has been increased by an order of magnitude, "if in early March they started with 2,500 tests, and now about 170,000 tests are carried out every day, and this is one of the highest rates in the world. "

"The more effective our testing is, the more effectively we detect new cases of infection, including hidden ones, the faster we will overcome the epidemic. By mid-May, we will practically double the number of tests, bring them to 300,000 per day. I ask the government and the Ministry of Health to continue to increase this work," President Putin said.

President Putin pointed out that Russian doctors "now have the opportunity to detect infection in the early stages, including those people who do not have symptoms of the disease."

"This helps prevent serious consequences, difficult development, protect each individual and protect those who are close to them: relatives, work colleagues, and so on, to stop the spread of infection," he said.

The President noted with understanding that "citizens are worried, they are worried about the daily published information about new cases of infection," but stressed that "the potential danger now lies precisely in how many cases were not seen and missed.".

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