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Coronavirus pandemic

Russia's entire population to encounter coronavirus, doctor says

To date, 2,039,926 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,551,414 patients having recovered from the disease

© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. The entire Russian population will sooner or later encounter the coronavirus and herd immunity is the only thing that can stop the infection from spreading, lung doctor Alexander Karabinenko told TASS.

"The entire Russian population, including people who will leave their home regions, villages and small towns, will sooner or later contract the coronavirus. The virus spreads through the air and how can we limit air circulation? We need herd immunity to stop the rise in infections," the doctor pointed out.

According to Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova, the watchdog’s research shows that those who encounter the coronavirus develop enough immunity. The research, involving over 74,000 volunteers in 26 regions of the country, began in June 2020.

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.

According to the latest statistics, over 56.9 mln people have been infected worldwide and more than 1.3 mln deaths have been reported

To date, 2,039,926 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,551,414 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 35,311 fatalities nationwide.

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