One of the sources in the Russian government told Reuters that so far the course of the disease with omicron looks easier than with the delta strain.
According to him, the task of providing a sufficient number of hospital beds in the country has already been solved.
“It is expected that omicron can lead to fewer hospitalizations than Delta, people will just stay at home,” he explained.
The agency’s interlocutors clarified that the situation with the pandemic was discussed at meetings in the Russian government. The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation has not yet commented on the information about the forecasts for a new wave of coronavirus.
The record for the number of cases per day was set in Russia in November (41,335 people). As of December 30, the level of collective immunity to COVID-19 reached 61.8%, and in some regions — 80%. More than 100 people infected with the omicron strain have already been identified in the country.
Rospotrebnadzor expects the situation with the pandemic to worsen after the New Year holidays. According to the Ministry of Health, omicron’s symptoms are similar to the flu, and patients with this strain spend less time in hospitals.