MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. The Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing conducted 8,900 studies while working out the algorithm of tracing the circulation of the novel coronavirus in the environment; in all cases no positive results were detected, head of the agency Anna Popova said on Tuesday at a session of the presidium of Russia’s Academy of Sciences.

"As soon as the PCR method appeared we tried it not only for human testing but also for detection of the virus in the environment. Seven entities of the Russian Federation were included in the pilot study. In the seven entities almost 9,000 studies of water and food products were conducted, with no positive findings detected," she reported.

However, according to the sanitary watchdog’s presentation demonstrated by Popova, the study to detect the novel coronavirus in water and food products across all regions of Russia, revealed 17 positive samples in surface swabs as well as 29 other positive findings.

According to the latest statistics, over 29.3 mln people have been infected worldwide and more than 928,000 deaths have been reported. To date, 1,073,849 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 884,305 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 18,785 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.