MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. The growth in the number of deaths due to the coronavirus in Russia and of the number of patients at intensive care units is related to the fact that now in general people are hospitalized in a serious condition while in the spring hospitals were admitting practically everyone, Chief of Medicine of the Lider Meditsiny medical center Yevgeny Timakov told TASS on Wednesday.
"The number of fatalities is now increasing because more patients in a more serious condition are being hospitalized. The increase in the number of patients at intensive care units is related to the fact that if in the spring, at the beginning of the pandemic, people were hospitalized indiscriminately, now they are admitting people who are already in a moderate or a severe condition," the agency’s interlocutor said.
"And another thing - now those with the coronavirus more often don’t stay in bed, turn for medical help less. Accordingly, a visit to a doctor is delayed. <...>. A delayed visit to a physician naturally means a more serious course of the disease, more severe cases hospitalized," the expert explained.
Earlier, Russian Healthcare Minister Mikhail Murashko reported of the increase in the number of patients at intensive care units at a session of the Presidium of the Government Coordination Council to control the coronavirus incidence in the Russian Federation. Additionally, according to the latest data of the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center, the number of fatalities caused by the coronavirus in Russia over the past
24 hours has grown by 589 compared to 569 the day before, which is a second record high over the past two days since the beginning of the pandemic.
To date, 2,347,401 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,830,349 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 41,053 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.