MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/. Moscow’s government believes that nearly one third of the city’s coronavirus patients are young people, Moscow’s Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova told reporters on Saturday.
"In the past week, cases have been growing exponentially, as the rise in confirmed coronavirus cases have been 70% compared to the previous week. The number of severe cases has been on the rise as well, as the number of hospitalizations increased by 30%," Rakova said.
Rakova added that the uptick in cases and hospitalizations was the first since the beginning of the year. As many as 498 people are put on ventilators in Moscow hospitals treating COVID-19 patients, which is up by 30% compared to the previous week.
"It is worth mentioning that the proportion of young people (aged between 18 and 35 years) has increased dramatically among the sick to total nearly one third of all the cases. That is why, the public places that are visited by the youth most frequently will close for a while," Rakova said.
Vaccinations have become critical as COVID-19 cases are soaring in Moscow, Deputy Mayor noted.
"Now the need to be vaccinated is particularly critical. If you have not done it yet, plan your trip to get vaccinated right this weekend. Vaccinations are available at outpatient clinics, shopping centers and parks," she said.
The beds for coronavirus patients
About 78% of beds for coronavirus patients are occupied in Moscow hospitals, the city’s deputy mayor for social development told reporters.
"To date, about 14,000 beds for coronavirus-positive patients have been deployed in Moscow according to the plan. Of those, 78% are filled. Extra beds have been put up in operating field hospitals and temporary facilities, in separate buildings of the Mukhin and Spasokukotsky hospitals, as well as in one of the hospitals belonging to the Russian Railways," said Rakova.
On Tuesday, the Filatov hospital will be converted for COVID-19 patients, which will give additional 2,000 beds for them.
"Additionally, we will convert five more outpatient clinics for the diagnosis of coronavirus infection in the coming days, so there will be 30 CT (Computed Tomography) centers by the middle of the week," she said.
Earlier she said that epidemiologists link the surge in coronavirus cases in Moscow to the failure to comply with sanitary and epidemiological restrictions. According to her, as the Moscow government refused to declare a lockdown in the city, the medical staff have to shoulder the main burden.