"The risks are still regarded as very high": Russia introduced quarantine for arriving from South Africa and neighboring countries

The authorities of the Russian Federation have introduced a two-week quarantine for citizens returning from South Africa and countries that border this state on the African continent.

This was stated by the chief sanitary doctor of Russia Anna Popova on the air of the radio station "Komsomolskaya Pravda".

“Today, the Russian Federation has introduced a two-week quarantine, but only for those who return from South Africa and countries that have a direct border with South Africa, and that's it.

There are very few such people, according to the Federal Tourism Agency and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are several hundred in South Africa, ”Popova said.

She noted that this decision was made because of the "very high risks" associated with the omicron strain.

At the same time, no cases of the disease with a new mutation have yet been identified in Russia.

At the same time, the head of the scientific group for the development of new diagnostic methods based on sequencing technologies of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, Kamil Khafizov, in a conversation with Interfax, stated that cases of the omicron strain were already recorded in 26 countries: that he will be found and we will not ”.

Also on russian.rt.com Round-the-clock research: how the situation with the spread of the new strain of coronavirus omicron is developing

On November 28, Russia limited air traffic with South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Hong Kong and Eswatini.

Also, Rospotrebnadzor, together with the Ministry of Transport, organized express testing for COVID-19 for visitors from Africa, as well as China, Israel, Great Britain and Hong Kong.

The situation with COVID-19 in Russia

The situation with coronavirus infection in Russia is stabilizing, said the chief sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation Anna Popova.

At the same time, according to her, the autumn wave of COVID-19 has been observed in the country since September.

“In fact, this is a seasonal rise, which we have predicted and have been observing since mid-September.

And the key word is that it was predicted.

We already understand to a certain extent, so to speak, the manners of our new "guest" on a planetary scale, the new coronavirus.

It, as expected, gains its seasonality, and comes to us like other seasonal viruses in the second half of September, ”said Anna Popova.

She noted that since the second week of November, there has been a decrease in the incidence of COVID-19 by more than 20%, which indicates a stabilization of the situation.

At the same time, Popova indicated that the waves of coronavirus will continue until very clear and insurmountable barriers to the spread of infection are formed.

“Until we all take root, until the very collective immunity that we all dream of is created, and we do not strictly observe all sanitary measures that will prevent the virus from passing from one person to another - thus we will stop its spread in the first queue in our country, "- said the head of Rospotrebnadzor.

In turn, Assistant Minister of Health Alexei Kuznetsov said that all certificates of the previous coronavirus disease are valid for a year.

“All new certificates are issued for this period.

For certificates of a past illness, issued earlier, the validity period is now being extended also up to a year from the day of recovery.

This purely technical procedure will be completed shortly.

All the necessary decisions have been made, "TASS quotes him.

On November 26, the head of the Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, emphasized that the certificates of COVID-19 patients over the past year will be automatically renewed.

COVID-19 statistics

Over the past day, 33,389 new cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Russia.

35,185 people fully recovered, 1,221 died from complications that developed against the background of COVID-19 and concomitant diseases.

In total, 9,703,107 cases of coronavirus have been identified in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.

277 640 people died, 8 400 117 recovered.

Rospotrebnadzor reported that more than 226.1 million laboratory tests were carried out in the country for the presence of the virus.

More than 1.731 million people remain under medical supervision.

The largest number of new episodes of the disease was recorded in Moscow (3805) in St. Petersburg (2623), Moscow region (1475).

The situation with coronavirus infection in Moscow has stabilized over the past week - there were no falls or rises.

This was stated by the mayor of the capital Sergei Sobyanin in an interview with the TV channel "Russia 1".

“Whether it is good or bad, the next week will show where we are heading: either a slight increase, or a slight decline, or the situation is stabilizing.

We hope that there will be no sharp growth, but although in general the situation is so difficult, ”the mayor emphasized.