In Russia, the daily increase in new coronavirus infections for the first time since mid-March has exceeded 40,000 cases, the federal operational headquarters said on its Telegram channel on Saturday, August 20. “As of August 20, 40,010 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in the Russian Federation. The number of hospitalizations per day was 3,450 people and increased by 3% from the previous day,” the report says.

Compared to the previous day, when 37,609 infected were registered in Russia, the number of new cases increased by 2,401. Similar numbers (41,055 a day) were recorded on March 14, but the spread of the coronavirus was slowing while it is now on the rise.

The message from the operational headquarters also notes that in the last 24 hours, an increase in the number of hospitalizations was observed in 42 regions of the Russian Federation, a decrease in 39 regions, the situation remained unchanged in four regions of the Russian Federation. As for mortality, 69 more people died of covid in the last day. This is significantly lower than on March 14, when 533 people died from the effects of the coronavirus infection.

The rise in coronavirus infections

In total, 19,038,665 cases of coronavirus infection and 383,496 deaths were recorded in Russia during the pandemic.

Since July, Russia has seen an increase in the incidence of COVID-19. Earlier, Rospotrebnadzor head Anna Popova said the growth was taking place against the background of the emergence of new, more contagious subvariants of the coronavirus. The department explained that this is due to an increase in the strain composition of the proportion of new “micron” subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, characterized by high infectivity.

Rospotrebnadzor noted that the new sub-options are unlikely to lead to a significant increase in the number of severe cases and hospitalizations, so there is no need to return coronavirus restrictions at the federal level. At the same time, on August 16, the department reported that due to the increased incidence, a letter had been sent to regions with a recommendation to introduce mask regime in public places and transport. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has once again urged citizens to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.