Decline in COVID-19 cases to continue in Russia throughout October

«COVID-19 case incidence in Russia is now on decline, and will continue to decline throughout October, but a new wave cannot be ruled out. By now, it has definitely begun in countries like France, Germany, Italy and Austria, where a clear surge in cases is now being observed,» he said.

At the same time, the expert said it was hard to say when the new wave of the infection may hit Russia. However, it is possible that the new wave never the country due to its current «weak ties with Europe,» the expert said.

In his opinion, the current spike in COVID-19 cases in European countries is caused by a new version of the omicron variant, such as BQ.1.1. Altshtein explained that new variants of omicron emerge on a daily basis, but the vast majority of them is relatively harmless. However, when a variant with increased transmissibility emerges from time to time, a new wave of the infection begins.

«Will the current wave be a major one? In fact, I do not expect it to be. In general, the epidemics is now displaying signs of a decline. But still around 400,000 people contract the infection worldwide every day, so it is too early to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight. The process will keep coming in waves, losing its power over time,» Altshtein said.

He said the COVID-19 wave in Russia, caused by the omicron variant BA.5 in late July reached its peak in September and cases started to decline rapidly. The virus has a relatively low mortality of approximately 0.3%.

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