MOSCOW, November 2./TASS/. A low immune function and a general deterioration of children’s health may have led to an increase in the number of underage patients infected with coronavirus, Fyodor Lisitsyn, chief specialist of the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told Rossiya-24 television channel on Tuesday.
"The general epidemiological situation, as well as the general health condition of children this year is worse than average, irrespective of coronavirus," he said. "And it is clear that they have started to fall ill more often. And also get infected with coronavirus more often, more severely and more dangerously," the expert said.
He stressed that the danger of coronavirus should not be underestimated, since it is indeed more dangerous than it was initially considered, largely due to the Delta strain.
About 247.2 million people have been infected with coronavirus worldwide since the pandemic began, and over five million people have died. According to the Russian anti-coronavirus crisis center, the country has reported 8,593,200 coronavirus cases in total. As many as7,412,631 coronavirus patients have recovered and 240,871 people have died as a result of the virus.