Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered temporary Covid hospitals to re-open, as the country struggles to cope with a new wave.
According to Russian news site Baza, a new temporary hospital has opened in Kommunarka, a settlement near Moscow after 20 people in the area were confirmed to have tested positive for the new Pirola strain. The variant called Pirola has a high number of mutations, sparking fears that it could evade vaccines and be more transmissible.
And Russia appears to be struggling to cope. Baza reports that the new temporary hospital has space for 60 patients, with other hospitals opening temporary wards inside to help cope with the numbers.
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It comes days after rules were brought in to force Government officials to wear masks again in Russia's government buildings. They claim: “On September 18, the previous coronavirus rules were returned to the Government House.
“Now officials must again wear masks and reduce the number of visitors, as well as limit contact between themselves and the number of business trips. "The elevators in the White House have also been switched to quarantine mode: they will transport no more than three people at a time.
“This is stated in the document sent to ministries, heads and deputies of the government apparatus.” Official Russian Covid statistics are hard to come by, as Putin refuses to release them to the general public.
However, according to the World Health Organisation, the country has suffered exactly 399,999 deaths, with 22,996,765 total cases. No official cases have been reported to the WHO in the last seven days, despite Russian media claiming the virus is running riot once again.
The WHO also claims that 186,692,479 vaccine doses have been given in Russia, although most of those are thought to be using Russia's own less-effective vaccine produced inside the country.
Pirola has around 35 different mutitions that might help it evade the natural protection we have from our immune system. Some scientists fear this could mean we have less immunity, leading to large waves of infection and serious illness.
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This is exacerbated by the fact sufferers won’t know if they have the new variant or not, as the symptoms are nearly identical to the other forms of the virus. Dr Renu Bindra, the UKHSA incident director, said: “It is clear that there is some degree of widespread community transmission, both in the UK and globally, and we are working to ascertain the full extent of this.
“In the meantime, it remains vital that all those eligible come forward to receive their autumn vaccine as soon as it is offered to them.”
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