MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Russia has lifted coronavirus restrictions because the epidemiological situation in the country has stabilized, with no incidence growth reported for the past three months, Yevgeny Timakov, a specialist in infectious diseases and vaccines, told TASS on Friday.
"It was a right decision. The situation has been stable for three months, with no incidence growth. It means that herd immunity has been developed," he said, adding, however, that a close eye should be kept on the virus mutations in case of outbreaks in other countries.
"We can slightly relax as long as there are no new mutations of the coronavirus infection," he noted.
He recalled that the BA.4 subvariant of the Omicron strain was detected in Russia in mid-June. This subvariant, in his words, is not that "epidemiologically significant as the BA.2 variant." "As a matter of fact, the Omicron mutation is convenient for Covid as it is easily transmitted and causes no serious changes, as in the case of previous variants," Timakov noted.
Earlier on Friday, Russia’s sanitary watchdog lifted anti-coronavirus restrictions in the country from July 2. According to the watchdog, the weekly incidence dropped by 64 times on February and 93% of current cases are either symptomless or mild forms. Nevertheless, monitoring of the epidemic process continues and restrictions may be re-imposed if necessary.