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Nearly all Russian COVID-19 patients on ventilators contract Delta strain — expert

According to Health Minister, as of June 25, nearly 15% of hospital beds equipped with ventilators have been occupied in Russia

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Almost all COVID-19 patients on ventilators in Russia have supposedly contracted the highly contagious Delta strain and have experienced serious symptoms, chief non-resident pulmonologist of Russia’s Health Ministry Sergey Avdeyev said on Thursday.

"It seems to me that today in our hospitals, nearly all patients, their vast majority — 90% have the notorious Delta strain. If we speak about the situation today and if we compare it with what was two or three months ago, unfortunately, today we see a more serious COVID-19 disease, more patients require oxygen therapy and oxygen support, including ventilators. I can carefully suggest that nearly all our patients today who are on ventilators have the Delta strain," the expert said.

According to Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, as of June 25, nearly 15% of hospital beds equipped with ventilators have been occupied in Russia.

The new coronavirus variant, officially labeled as ‘Delta,’ was first identified in India last October, so this strain is frequently called Indian. Earlier, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences reported that this variant could infect even people who have received the Covaxin and Covishield vaccines used in India. Its variant ‘Delta Plus’ is believed to be even more contagious.