MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. The decrease in lethality values of the novel coronavirus infection in Europe may be related, among other things, to the mutations in the genome of the virus. This opinion was voiced by professor of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry Anatoly Altshtein in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel on Tuesday.
"This huge difference in lethality which we have now, say, in Europe where during the spring wave it was about 10-15% and now we observe 0.5%, this is unlikely the medical achievement alone. I think the biological changes of the virus are also significant here," he said.
According to the expert, mutations in the genome of the coronavirus occur that are "beneficial to humans," influencing the decrease in the lethality of the virus. However, the expert added that the positive dynamics of this aspect in Europe is also related to the improved healthcare.
The number of fatalities due to the coronavirus infection in Western Europe in summer decreased two-three times with the background of the growth in the total number of infections. For instance, in Spain the share of deaths compared to the number of infections decreased two-fold - 6.6% instead of 12%. In Great Britain, according to various estimates, the decrease in the lethality level over summer was from 55 to 80%.
According to the latest statistics, about 37.8 mln people have been infected worldwide and more than 1.08 mln deaths have been reported. To date, 1,326,178 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,031,785 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 22,966 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.