SOLNECHNOGORSK /Moscow Region/, August 23. /TASS/. Russian doctors excelled their foreign counterpart in saving lives during the novel coronavirus pandemic, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia Sergei Kiriyenko said.
"During this epidemic of the coronaviurs, which, I hope, is nearing its end, Russia emerged victorious from the point of view of lives saved," Kiriyenko said during a youth forum on Saturday.
The Kremlin official went on to say that prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the attitude to Russian healthcare was skeptical both domestically and worldwide.
"But then a major challenge emerged, and I’m absolutely convinced that Russia coped with it in a much more efficient way. Human lives that were saved are the main criterion for me in this regard. From the point of view of lives saved, Russia, of course, demonstrated outstanding results," he said.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, about 23 million people have been infected worldwide and approximately 780,000 of them died. To date, 951,897 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 767,477 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 16,310 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.