Excerpts from the transcript:
Meeting of the Presidium of the Coordination Council to control the incidence of the novel coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
The Covid-19 situation remains extremely tense.
The disease incidence rate is growing in the majority of the regions, primarily due to the spread of the new coronavirus variant. The number of patients taken to hospital has increased in 48 regions. But pressure on our outpatient facilities, on doctors and other medical personnel is especially great. It is necessary to supply them with everything they need for their work, including PPE. Our healthcare facilities must have the necessary supply of medicines. The Government has allocated funds for their purchase. The 122 emergency hotline has been reinforced to ease the pressure on the front desks and direct patients to the right facility.
Additional personnel will be assigned to the call centres, including people with medical education. This should be done to ensure that the callers promptly get through, receive the necessary consultation and, if necessary, call in a doctor.
As per the President’s instructions, we will keep our healthcare service in a state of readiness. A special emergency working group headed by Tatyana Golikova has been established to ensure interaction with the regions and to promptly address issues. The federal centre will continue to help the regions deal with their problems.
I would like to tell the heads of regions once again that their task is to forecast their potential medicine needs and prepare enough hospital beds for the potential deterioration of the situation. It is also extremely important to keep the testing rate at the necessary level. We must not allow it to go down.
As of now, the results of PCR tests are available in personal accounts on the public services portal. The results of express tests will soon be added to the portal for the residents of rural and hard-to-access areas from which PCR test samples cannot be quickly delivered to the labs. A relevant Government resolution has been prepared.
I would like the Ministry of Digital Development to create the technical conditions for this.
I would also like to address our citizens. If you feel unwell, immediately consult a doctor so that you can begin treatment as soon as possible. The virus is spreading extremely quickly. Although the new strain seems to cause less severe illness, the elderly population and people with chronic diseases are vulnerable to it. I am asking you to take the necessary public health measures. Vaccination is especially important.
I would like to warn everyone against expecting to be mildly sick. This is not always the case. Besides, there are also long-term effects, some of them very serious. Vaccination will help you to protect your health against them.
There are enough vaccines in all the regions. The regional authorities must estimate their needs to prevent any shortages.
Colleagues, let us get down to our agenda.
