Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko revealed Tuesday, June 29 that around 151,000 people infected with COVID-19 are hospitalized and recognizes that the pandemic situation in the country is "tense".
"182,000 beds are set up and 151,000 patients are being treated," Murashko said at a government meeting dedicated to an outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic caused by the Delta Variant.
"The situation is tense, especially in the big cities," added the minister, who also said that the vaccination campaign had started to accelerate again, after posting a delay due to the Russian population's distrust of vaccines.
Many regions in Russia, faced with a third wave of the pandemic since mid-June, have made vaccination mandatory for certain population groups.
The Health Minister concluded by confirming that 23 million of the total of 146 million inhabitants had already been immunized with at least one dose of the vaccine and that the country still has enough doses to vaccinate another 32 million.
In Moscow, the epicentre of this third wave of the pandemic, the situation remains "extremely difficult", said Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, reporting that nearly 15,000 beds have been occupied, with a significant proportion of critically or very seriously ill and in care intensive.