MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 5,781 over the past day versus 6,803 cases confirmed in the previous day, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Monday.
Thus, the number of new detected cases became the lowest since July 20 when 5,685 new infections were recorded. In all, 21,429,506 coronavirus infections have been recorded in Russia since the onset of the pandemic.
As many as 491 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, 19.6% fewer than in the previous day. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 39 regions, while in 23 other regions the figure increased. A day earlier, 611 people were rushed to hospitals.
Moscow’s COVID-19 cases surged by 579 over the past day, versus 730 a day earlier, reaching 3,230,867, according to the anti-coronavirus crisis center. St. Petersburg’s COVID-19 cases increased by 398 over the past day versus 469 a day earlier, reaching 1,785,840.
COVID-19 recoveries
Russia’s COVID-19 recoveries rose by 7,073 over the past day, reaching 20,803,197, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Monday.
COVID-19 death toll
Russia’s COVID-19 death toll surged by 71 over the past day to 390,175, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Monday.
A day earlier, 75 COVID-19 deaths were registered.
TASS’ calculations
Another wave of the coronavirus epidemic which began in Russia in mid-summer is over. The number of infections in October turned out to be 3.3 fold lower than in September, according to TASS’ calculations based on reports by the anti-coronavirus crisis center.
From October 1 through October 31, the crisis center has reported 443,750 infections versus 1,456,787 in the previous month. If in early October the country was detecting about 30,000 daily infections, by the end of the month this figure amounted to 6,000-7,000.
COVID-related mortality remained at the same level, with the crisis center reporting 2,923 fatalities in September and 2,906 deaths in October. That said, the lethality indicator has noticeably increased to 0.65% versus 0.2% in the previous two months.
The number of recoveries has decreased following a drop in incidence. According to the crisis center, over the past month, 762,209 patients have recovered which is approximately half of the number of those recovered in the previous month.
Should we expect a new wave?
On October 26, Russia’s top sanitary doctor Anna Popova said that two new variants of the Omicron coronavirus strain, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, dubbed Typhon and Cerberus by health experts, had begun circulating in Russia. According to her, the specialists think that these mutations are even more contagious than the basic Omicron strain which led to the most potent outbreak of the pandemic so far.
That said, Popova noted that the infection’s clinical manifestations remained practically the same. According to the experts, on the whole, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are not more dangerous than the Omicron strain while their spread won’t lead to the infection’s increased lethality.
