Vladimir Putin warns of fresh surge in COVID-19 cases amid rising Omicron scare

On Wednesday, 12 January, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the country is on the verge of facing a fresh surge of Coronavirus infections fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Addressing a meeting with top government officials, Putin stated that the country is currently in an extremely tough situation, on the edge of experiencing new surges. He also called for the "mobilisation" of the health care system in the country. "We see what's going on across the world. That implies we have at least two weeks to prepare," the President states as per the Associated Press (AP). 

Earlier this week, Russian officials raised concerns about a possible COVID-19 surge, citing the rapid spread of Omicron and rising infection rates in some areas. The warnings came as Russia's daily new infections began to rise again after weeks of decline following another record-breaking surge. The Omicron variant spreads even faster than other strains of Coronavirus, and it is already wreaking havoc in a number of countries across the world. 

Additional measures will be introduced to contain the spread: Dy PM

More than 17,000 new cases were reported by Russia's state coronavirus task force on Tuesday and Wednesday, whereas, the country reported 21,115 cases on Thursday. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova stated that the administration will introduce further measures in response to the expected increase in the cases by the end of this week. This year, Russia has reported more than 15,000 new infections every day, compared to around 30,000 cases per day in December. Over 10.6 million confirmed cases and 317,618 deaths have been recorded so far by the country's state coronavirus task force. 

Sputnik V is most effective against Omicron: Putin

Reiterating on the country's indigenous vaccine, Sputnik V's efficiency, President Putin also asserted that the vaccine can put up a strong fight against the Omicron variant compared to others. He stated that Sputnik V is more effective than any other vaccine in the world. The Russian President further added that the indigenous vaccine's ability to neutralise the virus is "obvious". It should be mentioned here that on November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated B.1.1.529 as a "Variant of Concern" and assigned it the Greek letter Omicron.

(With inputs from AP)