MOSCOW, June 24. /TASS/. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko advised people who have not been infected with the novel coronavirus to exercise caution despite the fact that the epidemic in the country is on the wane.
"The outbreak in Russia is on the wane already," he informed on Wednesday. "We see that the level of population immunity in Moscow is on the rise, which helps lower the infection rate. But we must remember that those who have not been infected must adhere to safety measures," the minister told reporters.
According to Murashko, a decrease in infection rate has been documented in Moscow, first and foremost. "[Other Russian] regions are about three weeks late. We see that some of the regions have reached [the peak], some have not. There are four main regions that still report a high infection rate," he said. According to the minister, the situation in the world "will depend on the type of immunity and the type of spread," adding that some quarantine measures are still in place.
Murashko promised that as soon as clinical testing of a vaccine against COVID-19 is complete, the Russian Health Ministry would report the results.
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.
To date, 606,881 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 368,822 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 8,513 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.