Health watchdog reports growth in cold, flu cases in Russia

MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) - Cold and flu morbidity in Russia has grown 5% over the past week and surpassed the national average in half of the constituent territories, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) said on Tuesday.

"On the 51st week of 2023, Russia observed a 5% growth in cold and flu cases, compared to the previous week. Morbidity surpassed the national average in 46 regions of Russia," Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement on Telegram.

Respiratory viruses of non-influenza origin prevail in the morbidity structure, it said.

Over 1.2 million infections have been recorded in all, while the number of patients is 26.8% smaller than on the respective week of the previous epidemic season, Rospotrebnadzor said.

Covid-19 morbidity was on decline, with over 77,000 cases having been registered across Russia on the 51st week of 2023, down 18.7% from the week before, it said.

"Rospotrebnadzor continues to monitor epidemiological safety of New Year events," the statement quoted Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova as saying.

She called for focusing on tourists and transit passengers and continuing the information campaign to explain the need for preventive measures in public places.