MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. A rise in incidence of the coronavirus infection observed in Russia recently is related to increased activity of residents before winter holidays, Deputy Director for Research of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Alexander Gorelov told journalists.
On Thursday, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported that 29,935 infections were detected in Russia, a record high since the beginning of the pandemic.
"Over the past days we observe an increased social activity before the New Year holidays. Unfortunately, people forgot that they need to exercise caution as well as to observe a number of restrictive measures. All of this, of course, affected the epidemic situation," he said.
The expert noted that at the same time it is possible to "cautiously talk" about a trend toward stabilization of the epidemic process. According to him, wave-like fluctuations in daily incidence are natural and predictable due to the large territory of the country and non-uniformity of the spread of the infection in regions.
"If we don’t want to get a resurgence of cases after the New Year holidays, it is necessary to spend these holidays in the calmest and the most secluded way. Try to avoid crowded places, limit the number of guests and refrain from visiting others yourselves. Instead of staying indoors where the risk of infection increases significantly it is better to go to a park, an ice slide or a skating rink," he emphasized. At the same time, one shouldn’t forget about social distancing and wearing a mask at skating rinks, shopping centers and on transport.