Russia shortens COVID-19 isolation to 7 days as cases surge

MOSCOW – Russian authorities are shortening the required isolation play for radical infected with COVID-19 from 14 to 7 days arsenic the state faces different surge of COVID-19 cases, this clip driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who runs the country's coronavirus task force, said Tuesday that wellness officials were “optimizing our approaches to quarantine and investigating of our citizens, including shortening the quarantine play to 7 days.”

Golikova added that different argumentation changes volition beryllium adopted successful the coming days, without elaborating. She besides didn't explicate the rationale for cutting the isolation period. Earlier rules required a two-week isolation play for those who trial positive, with a mandatory follow-up trial connected time 11.

Russia already has by acold Europe's worst decease toll successful the pandemic astatine implicit 322,000 deaths by its authoritative tally, a fig that different statistic suggest is simply a important undercount.

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The regular fig of coronavirus infections confirmed successful Russia has doubled implicit the past week, going from implicit 15,000 connected Jan. 10 to 31,252 connected Tuesday. Officials accidental the surge could extremity up arsenic the country's biggest yet but truthful acold haven't announced immoderate large restrictions to stem it.

Anna Popova, the caput of Russian nationalist wellness watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said past week that caller regular cases mightiness scope six figures. President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has “a mates of weeks” to hole for the unprecedented wave.

Golikova said Tuesday that 1,682 omicron cases person been officially confirmed successful Russia truthful far, but the existent fig is overmuch higher. The caller variant is already dominating successful Moscow, the outlying portion and St. Petersburg, Russia’s 2nd largest city, she said.

Rospotrebnadzor said a full of 1,241 omicron cases person been registered successful Moscow arsenic of Tuesday.

The caller surge of infections hasn't truthful acold led to a spike successful hospitalizations, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted Tuesday.

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“So acold we are not seeing the aforesaid proportionality of terrible cases arsenic with delta,” Mishustin said, adding “we request to beryllium prepared for immoderate people of events.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that authorities were not discussing different nationwide lockdown.

Russia had lone 1 nationalist lockdown, successful 2020, though galore Russians were ordered to enactment disconnected enactment for a week successful October 2021 amid a leap successful reported cases and deaths. On Friday, the authorities decided to indefinitely postpone introducing restrictions for unvaccinated people, which would person been highly unpopular among vaccine-hesitant Russians.

Just astir fractional of Russia’s colonisation of 146 cardinal has been afloat vaccinated, adjacent though Russia boasted astir being the archetypal state successful the satellite to o.k. and rotation retired a domestically developed coronavirus vaccine.

In Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin extended his orders obligating companies to support astatine slightest 30% of unit moving from location and radical older than 60 to enactment astatine location until April 1, but said astatine this constituent determination was nary request for immoderate further restrictions

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The Russian superior connected Tuesday reported 8,342 caller infections, much than doubly the fig conscionable a week ago.

Russia’s authorities coronavirus task unit has registered implicit 10.8 cardinal confirmed infections and 322,678 deaths since the commencement of the pandemic. Russia’s authorities statistic agency, which uses broader counting criteria, puts the decease toll overmuch higher, saying the wide fig of virus-linked deaths betwixt April 2020 and October 2021 was implicit 625,000.

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