© Sergei Karpukhin/TASS
"Today, five territorial entities <...> are already close to eliminating this pathogen in their region as a whole," he said at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Legislators at Russia's Federal Assembly (parliament).
According to the minister, more than 310,000 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 are receiving treatment in Russia, almost 110,000 people are being treated in hospitals.
"The year 2020 brought major changes in the healthcare system, and, unfortunately, we have not yet fully returned to our usual regime. More than 310,000 [patients] are receiving treatment for COVID-19 and the suspected coronavirus, and almost 110,000 people are currently undergoing treatment in hospitals," he said.
To date, 4,771,372 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 4,394,639 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia's latest data indicates 108,588 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.
Comment: This has been achieved despite Russia not enforcing the severe and repeated lockdowns seen in the West, and it has vaccinated less than 4% of the population. Reaching some sort of herd immunity was partly forecast by the head of a top Russian genomics lab back in July 2020, and by Russian officials in February 2021.
Meanwhile, numerous countries throughout Europe are reimposing harsh, economy (and immunity) destroying lockdowns, and threatening that life will be dictated by vaccine passports.
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