MOSCOW, April 7. / TASS /. Mass vaccination will stop the COVID-19 spread in Moscow, however, the accumulated experience and infrastructure have also proven to be instrumental in combating the pandemic, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated on Wednesday.
"For more than a year, Moscow has been experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. Over this time, we have learned a lot about this virus and also learned to counter it. Mass vaccination, which Moscow was the first in the country to launch, will put an end to the virus spread," the capital’s mayor wrote in his blog, noting that a lot of efforts had been made to "protect the health of Moscow residents and bring the end of the pandemic as close as possible."
According to Sobyanin, Moscow was the first Russian city which recorded a COVID-19 case in February 2020. In early March, the city authorities issued a high alert and started creating a large-scale coronavirus testing system. After that, there appeared free PCR tests as well as EIA tests, which show the level of antibodies.
Furthermore, a number of Moscow hospitals were converted to accommodate COVID-19 patients and some new hospitals were built. Consequently, at the peak of the pandemic, 26,000 beds were available in the capital. Russian experts have adopted the best medical practices and approved a single standard for coronavirus patients’ treatment.
Artificial intelligence also helped doctors in diagnostics. Some CT scan centers have been opened on the basis of the city’s health centers, where patients with acute respiratory viral infections, community-acquired pneumonia and suspected coronavirus undergo a full cycle of research. Since the start of the pandemic, about 500,000 people have been diagnosed in such centers.
The outpatient care service was also reoriented to treat patients at home. A telemedicine center has been opened for Moscow residents who suffer from a mild coronavirus infection. The capital’s authorities also organized free provision of drugs for those who combat COVID-19 at home. In total, almost 2.5 mln drug packages have been delivered since March 2020.