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Chief sanitary doctor says Russia sees intense decline in COVID-19 incidence

Anna Popova said she hoped that unless SARS-CoV-2 got new mutations and variants, it would continue to behave like seasonal respiratory viruses

ROSTOV-ON-DON, October 2. /TASS/. The incidence of COVID-19, as well as of other respiratory viral infections, has been declining quite intensively in Russia for the second week in a row, Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) head Anna Popova told TASS on Sunday.

"This season, in autumn, COVID behaves like the seasonal respiratory viruses we are quite accustomed to. After the summer surge, it has become active just as respiratory viruses: after September 7-10, as, in fact, we’ve expected. Every year on September 1 large groups of people gather: work, school, student groups, and this every year causes a certain rise of the first wave of acute respiratory infections. And this year, COVID has just happened to coincide with this wave in terms of dates, and for the second week we have seen a fairly intense decrease in the incidence of the disease, as well as all other respiratory viral infections," she said.

Popova said she hoped that unless SARS-CoV-2 got new mutations and variants, it would continue to behave like seasonal respiratory viruses.

"At the same time, given that we have the rise of influenza coming up, we need to have time to get people vaccinated against the flu. And in the case of weakened health condition, of course, in public places, in places of mass gatherings, it is recommended to wear a mask. Prevention measures are known, the main thing is not to neglect them," she concluded.