MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. The coronavirus situation in Russia is quite stable, with the incidence curve being somewhat flattened, Anna Popova, chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog, said on Friday.

"Today, the coronavirus situation in Russia is quite stable. The autumn-winter surge that was registered in late autumn and early winter last year, ended in January with a serious reduction followed by the decline of 12-13% a week throughout March. Today, the figure is lower and we have practically entered a certain plateau nationwide," she said.

According to Popova, the weekly tally of newly confirmed coronavirus cases per 100,000 population was 41.6 in the past week. "It is quite a low figure," she noted.

She also said that the mutated British and South African strains are circulating in Russia, although not so widely as in other countries. However, in her words, the risks are still high, so the country’s authorities continue to take all necessary measures to contain the risks.

WHO recommendations

Head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova agrees with the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee that a COVID-19 vaccination certificate should not be required for international travel.

"This is the position of the World Health Organization, and I see no grounds not to listen to it today," she said on Friday during a presentation of the mobile app "Travelling without COVID-19" for heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Moscow.

Earlier, the WHO recommended officials not to demand vaccination certificates from international travellers.

Since the start of the pandemic, over 143 mln people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, over 3 mln have died. According to the federal anti-coronavirus center, Russia has documented 4,727,125 cases of COVID-19, 4,352,873 patients have recovered and 106,706 have died.