Moscow hits lowest daily Covid-19 cases mark since early May, with 3,505 infections recorded

The Russian capital, which accounts for a half of all Covid-19 cases and deaths in the country, has reported the lowest new daily infections number since early May.

Some 3,505 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in Moscow on Saturday. This has become the smallest daily rate in the city since the beginning of May, the capital’s operational headquarters for monitoring the pandemic reported. 

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the capital has now reached 138,969. According to the officials, in the third decade of April, an average of 2,700 to 2,800 cases were recorded every day in Moscow. As the testing volumes increased, the numbers went up. Confirmed infections slowly started to drop only on May 13. 

However, the real toll is probably much higher than the official statistics reveal, Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin noted on Friday. He said it was incorrect to say that, as of Friday, there were just 130,000 infected citizens in the city. He stressed that this was merely the number of discovered cases.

The new program of mass testing of Muscovites for antibodies to Covid-19 should reveal more precisely the total number of infected people, Sobyanin explained.

Overall, Russia has 9,200 new, confirmed Covid-19 cases as of Saturday. Since the beginning of May, the daily record has exceeded 10,000. This may signal a potential slowing of new infections. The country’s total number of infected people has now increased to 272,043.

Russia has managed to more or less stabilize the epidemiological situation, Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, the federal agency that oversees national wellbeing and consumer rights, announced on Thursday. She predicts the growth rate of new cases will remain low for a further week and a half.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s country representative, Melita Vujnovich, has stated that, at the end of last week, Russia reached the so-called plateau of the pandemic.

Since May 12, President Vladimir Putin has allowed a number of regions to gradually lift quarantine restrictions, depending on their epidemiological status. Each local authority was granted a right to independently decide how to proceed with self-isolation measures.

Moscow, which accounts for a half of all Covid-19 infections and deaths, remains on partial lockdown, with such measures in place until at least the end of May.

Muscovites are also required to wear masks and gloves when visiting public places such as shops, as well as when using the city’s public transport.

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