MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Moscow might face a shortage of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients if residents fail to comply with anti-coronavirus measures, Moscow Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova told the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"At present, we have the required reserves. But let’s be frank, the number of hospital beds is always limited. And no matter how many of them we create, they all might be occupied at some point. Today you refuse to wear a face mask. Tomorrow, there might be no place for your relative [in hospital]," she said.

Rakova said Moscow authorities had decided to set up temporary medical facilities instead of refitting the existing hospitals for coronavirus patients in order to keep the process of elective medical care in the Russian capital uninterrupted.

"This spring, we had to refit the bulk of our hospital facilities for treating novel coronavirus. As a result, we had to suspend elective medical care to other patients," she said, adding that it was technically hard to convert ordinary medical wards into the ones able to house patients with infectious diseases.

Moscow is currently setting up five temporary coronavirus hospitals on the premises of large exhibition centers, including pavilion 75 at the All-Russian Exhibition Center (VDNKh). The temporary hospitals will also be set up at the Krasnaya Presnya ExpoCenter and the Sokolniki Congress and Exhibition Center, the Krylatskoye Ice Palace and the Moskva Auto Center on the Kashirskoye highway. Overall, about 10,00 hospital beds will be set up for recovering patients.

The temporary hospitals will also admit patients with the mild symptoms of the illness who cannot for objective reasons undergo treatment at home (those who live in hostels, in one apartment with elderly relatives and other individuals from risk groups).

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 35,732,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 1,046,000 deaths have been reported. To date, 1,237,504 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 988,576 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 21,663 fatalities nationwide.

Moscow is the hardest-hit region in Russia, and daily numbers of new cases are on the rise. Overall, 311 559 cases of the infection were registered in the city so far, including 4,082 in the past day. A total of 255,100 people have recovered, 5,401 died.