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Coronavirus pandemic

Russian health minister points to rise in intensive care COVID-19 patients

As many as 5,300 beds are occupied as of now, the minister said

© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units has risen to 5,300 in Russia, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said at a meeting of the presidium of the government’s Anti-Coronavirus Coordination Council on Monday.

"The number of intensive care patients has grown. As many as 5,300 hospital beds are occupied as of now. The share of reserved hospital beds that have been put into use is below 25%," the minister pointed out.

Coronavirus pandemic

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed 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.

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