MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. A lockdown is not the most effective method of fighting the novel coronavirus and Russia has its own algorithm of measures to combat the infection, Chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova said on Wednesday.
Russia’s sanitary chief spoke in a live broadcast as part of the awareness campaign, Understanding Vaccines Together, organized by the Znaniye (Knowledge) Society and the nation-wide action WeTogether.
"The latest term is ‘lockdown’ and some countries have practiced it already four times rather than just once or twice. Considering that it has to be introduced for the fourth time, it is hardly the most effective means," the sanitary chief pointed out.
"First of all, if all activity is halted and this measure yields no effect to stem the infection, this also impacts the economy and we can clearly see this. The Russian Federation, however, has its own algorithm of measures and, as you mentioned at the beginning. Rospotrebnadzor has its system - the sanitary and epidemiological service that protects the country from extreme epidemiological risks," she said.
About 195.3 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus in the world since the start of the pandemic and over 4.1 million have died. Russia has registered a total of 6,195,232 coronavirus infections, 5,547,529 recoveries and 156,178 fatalities, according to the data of the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center. The Russian government has set up a hotline to inform the public about the coronavirus situation in the country.