Almost 90% of new cases of coronavirus in Moscow have an Indian strain of SARS-CoV-2.

The mayor of the capital Sergei Sobyanin told Channel One about this: "The latest data that we received was that 89.3% fell ill with a mutated coronavirus, the so-called delta is an Indian strain."

The mayor stressed that this mutation of the virus is more aggressive and has a faster spread.

At the same time, it is estimated that only 25% of Moscow residents are immune to this strain.

“The most unpleasant thing: in order for a person to resist (the virus. -

RT

), his immune status, his number of antibodies must be almost twice as high as against the Wuhan virus.

As a matter of fact, we are starting to retrace this story.

And with grave consequences, ”he said.

The mayor stated that this is why there is an explosive increase in the incidence and a significant increase in the number of hospitalizations.

“We are introducing new hospitals almost every day, new buildings in the fight against COVID-19, and we barely have time,” said the mayor.

In an interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel, Sobyanin clarified the situation with herd immunity in the city: “Our population immunity, the so-called when people have some kind of protection from the virus, was already at 60%: those who had been ill (both hard and asymptomatic ), and those who supplied the vaccine (there are already 1.5 million of them today) ”.

The mayor of the city explained that achieving such an indicator should have significantly slowed down the epidemic, but the situation has changed.

“Now it is already possible to calculate the population immunity in a different way, and it will no longer be 60%, but 25%.

Because a person needs more immunity to resist the coronavirus, and those who have very high titers remain ... and there are much fewer of them.

And this is a different epidemiological situation, "Sobyanin concluded.

  • AGN "Moscow"

  • © Vladimir Novikov, press service of the mayor and government of Moscow

In turn, the head of the Ministry of Health Mikhail Murashko stressed that compliance with sanitary and anti-epidemic measures and vaccination are of fundamental importance to create a safe environment.

He urged Russians not to wait, but to protect themselves and their loved ones.

“It is the formation of an integrated approach, the involvement of all their circle of contacts in the vaccination campaign that creates a circle of safety,” he stressed.

Murashko also said that people vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine do not need to re-check the presence of antibodies within six months.

The vaccinated person, the minister stressed, has good immunity to the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that the government will allocate 25 billion rubles to support the health care system.

According to him, special attention will be paid to the development of medical examination programs.

“I hope that, first of all, this will help people with chronic diseases, which, unfortunately, become complicated after COVID-19, and I hope that all Russians will be able to use this service,” Mishustin said.

New rules for providing routine care in Moscow hospitals

Against the backdrop of a worsening epidemiological situation, to protect patients from COVID-19 in Moscow hospitals, temporary rules for the provision of routine care were introduced.

According to the capital's Department of Health, now, before hospitalization, the patient will be checked for a vaccination against coronavirus.

The department explained that a person who is in a hospital has a weakened immune system due to his health condition, and for such patients, coronavirus disease is especially dangerous.

“It is impossible to exclude contacts on the territory of the hospital and isolate each patient.

Therefore, the risk of its infection, if the virus is introduced into the hospital, is increased.

After the operation, in case of infection, the risk of serious complications, including death, increases sharply, ”the report says.

The new rules for the provision of routine medical care do not apply to the planned hospitalization of patients with cancer and hematological diseases for anticancer treatment, as well as for the provision of palliative care.

The department also stressed that the right to receive medical care will not be limited.

Citizens with medical contraindications for vaccination will be hospitalized.

In addition, emergency medical care will be provided, without exception, to every resident of the city, regardless of his vaccination status. 

Against this background, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the initiation of 24 criminal cases due to the manufacture and sale of fictitious certificates of vaccination against COVID-19. 

“Currently, 24 criminal cases have been initiated, of which 23 are under Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation“ Forgery, production or circulation of forged documents, state awards, stamps, seals or letterheads ”, one under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation“ Fraud ”.

Of these, three criminal cases were sent to court, ”the ministry said.

In particular, law enforcement officers in the Northern Administrative District detained a woman who sold fake coronavirus vaccination certificates for 5 thousand rubles.

A similar case was identified in the south-east of the capital.

In addition, the police detained a man who served as a courier and who was found to have certificates of vaccination against COVID-19 in various names.

Mandatory vaccination of certain groups of citizens in the regions

The head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said that, if necessary, the mandatory vaccination of some citizens against coronavirus, which is in effect in Moscow, can be introduced in other regions.

“A new tool ... compulsory immunization of risk groups, which was introduced in Moscow, the Moscow region, Sakhalin, and Kemerovo.

And today it is being introduced in Tula, this is important.

And if necessary, we will have to use this tool when the situation develops in any other subjects, ”TASS quotes her as saying.

  • RIA News

  • © Kirill Braga

The country's chief sanitary doctor recalled that the situation in large agglomerations is "extremely complicated", and all necessary measures are being taken to stabilize it.

The head of Rospotrebnadzor expressed the opinion that the appearance of new strains of coronavirus does not have a fundamental effect on the epidemic process, since the transmission of the virus occurs in the same way, by airborne droplets.

“There is only one way to stop the infection: you need to get vaccinated.

Therefore, I urge you to do this as early as possible, ”said Popova.

Resumption of flights with a number of countries

We add that the federal operational headquarters to combat the spread of coronavirus infection in Russia on June 18 decided to resume air traffic with a number of countries.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova spoke about this.

So, from June 22, air traffic with Turkey is resumed.

Golikova clarified that the Russian inspection group, which included representatives of Rospotrebnadzor, the Ministry of Health and the Federal Agency for Tourism, paid a visit to the republic to assess the situation in the country and the willingness to receive tourists from Russia.

“According to the conclusion of our specialists, taking into account the discussion and full consideration of this issue by all interested federal executive bodies at a meeting of the operational headquarters, it was decided that it would be advisable to restore air communication with the Republic of Turkey from June 22 this year,” the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed.

In addition, the headquarters decided to resume air traffic on some routes with the USA, Italy, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Jordan and Ireland.

According to preliminary data, the restoration of flights to these countries will take place from June 28, Golikova specified.

In addition, Russia intends to increase the number of flights with Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Greece: "Just as in the case of other states, air communication with the Hellenic Republic will be resumed at a number of international airports located on the territory of the RF subjects."

According to Golikova, flights can be launched to Thessaloniki and Heraklion, to Araxos airport (Patras), as well as to Rhodes, Corfu and Zakynthos.

The number of flights to Qatar, Finland, Croatia and Switzerland may also be increased.

The headquarters also recommended that China and Liechtenstein be included in the list of countries whose citizens can enter the Russian Federation.