The main reason for the sharp increase of coronavirus cases in the capital was the spread of a new variant, Anastasia Rakova, Deputy Mayor of Moscow, said at the Moscow Urban Forum.
“Since June, we have all witnessed one more sharp rise in coronavirus cases in Moscow. There is, of course, a range of various reasons for that. But the main reason is the new strain of the virus, the Indian variant,” TASS quotes Rakova as saying.
Moscow is coping with the COVID-19 transmission situation with minimal restrictions, the deputy mayor said. According to the official statistics, more than 10% of Moscow residents have had COVID-19, but there are three to four times more people who have been ill without any symptoms or did not go to a doctor.
“Moscow had to bear the brunt of the pandemic in our country. To date, more than 10% of Moscow residents have been registered to have the disease, Muscovites making up about 25% of the total number of COVID-19 cases throughout the country. If we also take into account all the asymptomatic cases or those who were ill but did not consult a doctor, the figure can be easily multiplied by three or four,” Rakova said.
Moscow is coping with the COVID-19 transmission situation with minimal restrictions, Rakova stated.
“Of course, everyone is really exhausted because of the huge pressure which the city, the entire management team and, first of all, the health care system have been experiencing for the last year and a half, but I can say with confidence that Moscow is coping with the situation. And I really hope that it is doing better than many other megacities of the world. I want to emphasize once again that, despite the challenging situation, the city continues to live almost a full life with minimal restrictions, which is a rare thing in today’s world,” the deputy mayor explained.
She noted that Moscow is mainly coping with the COVID-19 situation thanks to the management system that has been built over the past 10 years.