Growing Covid-19 cases in Russia may be attributed to social activities following New Year holidays - Health Ministry specialist

MOSCOW. Jan 27 (Interfax) - Russia has seen growing cases of Covid-19 in the second half of January 2023, which could be attributed most likely to the resumption of people's social activities following the New Year holidays, Vladimir Chulanov, the Russian Health Ministry's chief external specialist in infectious diseases, said on Friday.

"Russia has registered growing cases of Covid-19 in the second half of January 2023. During the week from January 16 to 22, the country identified 37,544 cases, which is 27% more than in the previous week (29,631 cases from January 9 to 15)," Chulanov said.

This growth is most likely attributable to the resumption of people's social activities and an increased number of contacts following the New Year holidays, he said.

The Omicron variant of SARS-Cov-2 is continuing to spread in Russia and worldwide, Chulanov said. Its BA.5 subvariant was predominant in the second half of 2022 and remains the most common now, he said.

"Covid-19 still poses a threat not only to our citizens' health but also to their lives. In January 2023, from 40 to 50 people, primarily those older than 70, have died daily from the coronavirus infection. This yet again highlights the need for continuing to follow the recommendation on revaccinating for Covid-19 every six months, especially as concerns people from risk groups," Chulanov said.

It was reported earlier on Friday that Russia recorded 7,164 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, which is the highest daily number of cases in 2023.