MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/ The fight against COVID-19 is not over, preventive measures still need to be followed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday during a meeting with members of the public in Crimea and Sevastopol.

One of the participants of the meeting asked Putin to make sure that the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing lifts the restrictions on organized children’s vacations in sanatoriums located outside their regions, so that children can visit Crimea and other Russia’s southern regions this summer.

"As for the lifting of restrictions, of course, our situation is better than in many countries of the world, including Europe, which introduces very strict lockdowns. Vaccination is underway [in Russia]. <…> Based on this, we will work on the vacation campaign, we will develop domestic tourism," Putin said. The president stressed that the Russian government would follow the guidelines established by medical professionals. "We can’t think that everything is over. The world is interconnected, and although the borders are formally considered closed, they cannot and should not restrict people’s movements. So we need to follow the guidelines of specialists," he added.