MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Russia's coronavirus growth rate may drop further by the late spring, provided that people continue to abide by restrictions and vaccinate, Deputy Director for Clinical and Analytical Work at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology Natalya Pshenichnaya told TASS.
"This is no time to relax. It is important to continue to abide by restrictions and step up the vaccination campaign. And then, we are likely to see the growth rate drop compared to March figures," she pointed out.
According to Pshenichnaya, Russia’s coronavirus situation has stabilized as the number of new daily cases has been below 11,000 for two weeks.
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, more than 121.8 mln people have been infected worldwide and over 2.7 mln deaths have been reported.
According to the national anti-coronavirus crisis center, a total of 4,437,938 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia so far, with 4,049,373 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 94,267 fatalities nationwide. The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.