MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. No total coronavirus lockdowns will be imposed in Russia if people abide by sanitary requirements, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"This is not planned [to impose lockdowns], and I can say there is no need for that. <…> If we abide by the rules and recommendations of the sanitary doctor, we won’t need any lockdowns," he told journalists after his annual news conference.

The president noted that although coronavirus incidence rates in Russia are still high, but according to experts, they have reached the plateau. "That is, we are aren’t seeing any dramatic growth," he said.

He also promised to exercise control over the negative matters raised during the news conference. "We believe that given the number of specialized beds we have, given the increase in the production of medicines, I hope, these negative matters raised here will be removed. We will keep a close eye on that to see to it that people have necessary medicines, that they are taken to hospital when they need it," he pledged.