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Over 60,000 students involved in treatment of COVID patients in Russia

Efforts to provide medical treatment to coronavirus patients currently involve over 550,000 health workers, according to the minister

MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. More than 60,000 students are involved in the treatment of coronavirus patients in Russia, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said, addressing the Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) on Wednesday.

"Efforts to provide medical treatment [to coronavirus patients] currently involve over 550,000 health workers, including students from universities and research facilities. More than 60,000 students are involved in the work," he 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.

According to the latest statistics, about 96.2 mln people have been infected worldwide and more than two mln deaths have been reported.

According to the national anti-coronavirus crisis center, 3,633,952 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia so far, with 3,027,316 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 67,220 fatalities nationwide. The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.