At the same time, the pandemic may last some more time, the watchdog chief said, Eurasia Diary reports citing Tass.
Coronavirus will become a seasonal infection, like the flu, there is no reason to hope that its circulation will stop, Head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova said at the Gaidar Forum on Friday.
"Today there is no reason whatsoever to say that the circulation of that virus here will stop. We believe chances are high that the virus will remain with us, it will become a seasonal virus, and it will return to us during the epidemic season just like the flu virus does," she said.
According to Popova, it will be possible "to say that things got back to normal, we know everything and understand everything" only when it becomes clear that the virus became seasonal, and no one contracts the disease in the summer either in the northern or southern hemisphere. At the same time, the pandemic may last some more time, she added.
According to the latest statistics, over 93.1 million people have been infected worldwide, and about 2 million deaths have been reported. To date, 3,520,531 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 2,909,680 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 64,495 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.
