Russia not expecting Covid-19 surge similar to that seen in Feb - Rospotrebnadzor expert

ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 15 (Interfax) - Russia is not expecting a new surge of Covid-19 cases, as it happened in February with the emergence of the Omicron variant, nor is it expecting cases to grow similarly to what happened with the emergence of the Delta variant in 2021, Vasily Akimkin, director of the Central Research Institute for Epidemiology of the Russian public health and consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said in an interview with Interfax.

"No, and we don't even expect [anything similar to] what happened with Delta in 2021," Akimkin said, when asked whether Russia might see a new surge of cases similar to what it saw with the emergence of the Omicron variant in February.

While the cases of coronavirus increased rapidly during the Omicron wave, that period was not as dangerous as while the Delta variant was prevalent, as it caused substantially more deaths, Akimkin said.

The coronavirus's social effects are declining, and this will continue even if cases start growing again, Akimkin said. "Why are we not shouting about it at every corner? For the very simply reason that it's not that lethal. On the one hand, its symptoms have become less severe, and on the other, we've learned to treat it," he said.

It is also unlikely that the flu would eventually suppress the coronavirus, similarly to what happened when the number of flu cases was low during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, as the preventative measures are the same for the flu and the coronavirus, Akimkin said.

Asked whether the coronavirus pandemic might end anytime soon, Akimkin replied that the virus is becoming seasonal. "It's hard to say for sure, I'd just say that the coronavirus infection is becoming more seasonal," he said.