Covid-19 morbidity on the rise in 20 Russian regions, up by over 30% in Moscow in past week - Rospotrebnadzor

MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax) - Coronavirus morbidity is growing in 20 Russian regions, including Moscow, where it has increased by more than 30% over the past week, Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.

"The Covid-19 situation is also characterized by the intensification of the epidemiological process. Covid-19 morbidity is on the rise in 20 regions, among them in Moscow (+30.9% over the past week) and the Moscow region (+4.3% over the past week). The share of community-acquired pneumonia cases among Covid-19 patients has increased from 1.9% to 2.9% over the past month, which is also seen as a matter of concern," a Rospotrebnadzor spokesperson told reporters.

Covid-19 cases caused by new variants of the virus, BQ.1 and BQ. 1.1 (Cerberus), which are more transmissible, have already been registered in Russia, according to Rospotrebnadzor.

The activity of the flu viruses A(H1N1) 2009, A(H3N2) and B is also growing, it said.

Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova said in late October that there may be a rise in Covid-19 morbidity in Russia in late fall, but it will not be significant and "there are no plans to impose any restrictive measures for now, as there are no grounds for that."