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Coronavirus pandemic

Face masks should remain mandatory until vaccination begins, expert says

According to the expert, if people abide by precautionary measures, the next coronavirus waves will be much smaller

© Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Face masks should remain mandatory until coronavirus vaccination begins, Russian Heart Failure Society President and head of the Hospital Therapy Department No. 1 at Moscow State Medical University Professor Yuri Belenkov told an online press conference on Tuesday.

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"I can see that about 60% of Moscow resident have stopped wearing masks. I would like to point out that today’s easing of restrictions does not concern mask wearing and social distancing. I believe that the most reasonable thing to do is to keep wearing masks until a vaccination campaign begins," the expert pointed out.

According to Belenkov, if people abide by precautionary measures, the next coronavirus waves will be much smaller.

To date, 485,253 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 242,397 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 6,142 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

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