MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. Coronavirus cases have surged in Russia by 34.4% over the past five days to surpass the numbers recorded during five days of last week, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said at a briefing in the Government House on Friday.
"The rise in new coronavirus infections in the past five days of this week was 34.4%, compared to the five days of last week, the indicators are higher in Moscow - 54.4%," Golikova said adding that Moscow and the Moscow Region were the nation’s leaders in cases.
Indian variant of COVID-19
The symptoms of the Indian variant of COVID-19 are similar to a cold, with a runny nose, a sore throat and a headache among them, Golikova said.
"Taking into account that the new strain is prevalent in Moscow and the Moscow Region, we can see now what Western scientists publish. They are very simple symptoms of the disease, which are a runny nose, a sore throat like in pharyngitis, and a headache. That is all. As in a situation typical for us, people use familiar antiviral drugs, and sometimes even worse, they take antibiotics, since the symptoms are similar to a cold. In fact, they trigger the disease development, without distinguishing whether it is just a usual cold or COVID," she said at a briefing at the Government House.
On June 17, Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare, said that the Indian variant is spreading intensively across Russia. On the same day, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting of the Russian government’s anti-coronavirus coordination council that it was crucial to continue research on new variants of COVID-19 and to do everything necessary to prevent their spread.
According to the latest statistics, over 177.5 million people have been infected with coronavirus worldwide and more than 3.8 million deaths have been reported. To date, according to the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center, 5,281,309 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 4,850,659 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 128,445 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.