MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. A severe form of the novel coronavirus is observed only in about 10-15% of all cases, said Vitaly Zverev, who heads the Department of Microbiology, Virology and Immunology at Moscow’s Sechenov University.

"How many of [those infected] will fall ill? <...> About 10-15% will require serious medical assistance. The rest will have a mild form of the disease, receiving treatment at home or displaying no symptoms at all," he told the Moskva-24 TV channel.

Zverev attributed the current growth in novel coronavirus cases in Russia to the seasonal surge in viral respiratory diseases.

"I think that the process will slow down a bit in winter, as people <…> will stay at home more eagerly, and this outbreak will subside by spring," he added.

Coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 12,846 on Saturday, showing the highest growth rate since the start of the pandemic in the country. Russia has been registering the highest coronavirus numbers for the second consecutive day with 12,126 new coronavirus cases reported on October 9.

According to the anti-coronavirus crisis center, a total of 1,285,084 people have been infected in Russia, 1,016,202 of them have already recovered and 22,454 died.