Moscow still at foothills of coronavirus epidemic, far from peak: Mayor
Iran Press TV
Friday, 10 April 2020 3:46 PM
The mayor of Moscow says the Russian capital is still "at the foothills" of its coronavirus epidemic and far from the peak of the outbreak.
"I can tell you for sure that there has been no peak yet whatsoever, we are at the foothills of the peak, not even in the middle," Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in an interview with Russia's RIA news agency that was published on Friday.
His remarks came just as Russia's daily coronavirus infections hit a record high. Russian officials announced on Friday that 1,786 new cases had been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in Russia to 11,917.
Of the total number of infections, 1,124 were reported in the capital of more than 12.5 million – which has become the epicenter of the Russian outbreak – bringing the city's overall tally to 8,000.
This is while Moscow and many other regions have been in lockdown in an attempt to curb the epidemic for almost two weeks. Ninety four deaths have also been reported in Russia.
"I can only say that a serious test lies before us and we need to be preparing for it," Moscow's mayor further said.
According to Deputy Mayor Anastasiya Rakova, the increasing number of patients being hospitalized in Moscow was already pushing hospitals and emergency services to their limit.
Under the lockdown measures, Muscovites are allowed to leave their homes only to buy food or medicine or in cases of a medical emergency.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin extended until April 30 a paid non-working period across the country as part of efforts aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus.
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