MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. Herd immunity to the novel coronavirus has not yet been developed globally, so a third wave of the epidemic is possible if people are not cautious enough, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Russia Melita Vujnovic said on Tuesday.
"The second wave is currently demonstrating downwards tendencies across the globe. But herd immunity is not yet enough. There is no barrier yet. And, well, if we are not cautious enough, a third wave is possible. Everything will depend on people’s behavior," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.
On February 15, the World Health Organization reported the lowest daily tally of newly confirmed coronavirus cases since October 7, 2020.
To date, 4,099,323 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 3,624,663 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 80,979 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.
Seasonal disease
So far, it is difficult to say when the coronavirus infection can be considered a seasonal disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Russia said.
"It is not the WHO staff but external experts, including from Russia, who analyze the epidemic situation. There are several criteria [to say that the pandemic is over and the coronavirus infection is a seasonal disease]. It will be when the number of newly confirmed cases in all part of the world is down below the epidemic threshold," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.
"But as a matter of fact, it will be when the burden on the healthcare system does not hinder its normal functioning. And it is difficult to say when it can be," she added.
Origins of the pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) thinks that a theory that the coronavirus was leaked from a lab is unlikely, Melita Vujnovic said.
"A mission of international experts coordinated by the WHO worked in China and we are expecting their first report. There are four versions of theories. [The first version is that] the virus could have been transmitted to humans from bats through some intermediate host. There is a version that possibly the virus somehow got to a food market. [Or the virus was spread] by animals who were purposely grown on farms. The least likely version is that there was a leak from a lab," she said.