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 Omicron has pushed COVID-19 case figures to record highs in parts of
western Europe and the United States but the variant has been slower
to hit Russia, where daily COVID cases have fallen from a peak of
41,335 registered in early November.
Data compiled by the Reuters COVID-19 tracker https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/russia
show Russia's reported pandemic death toll stands at more than
666,000, the second highest in the world behind the United States.
Speaking to President Vladimir Putin at a televised government
meeting, Golikova said Russia could see COVID-19 cases increase
"several-fold" in light of the new variant.
"We are preparing additional measures for an urgent response," she
said. "The proposal will be formulated by the end of the week."
On Tuesday Anna Popova, the country's top consumer health official,
warned that daily COVID-19 infections could hit six figures if
proper sanitary measures were not observed.
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 On Wednesday Russia reported
17,946 new cases and 745 deaths in the previous
24 hours.
The Kremlin has frequently expressed frustration
at the slow uptake of the domestically made
Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, and called
on officials to increase inoculation rates.
Golikova said on Wednesday that Russia's
collective immunity against COVID-19 stood at
63.2%, only slightly higher than the 61.8%
recorded as of Dec. 30.
Authorities in the capital Moscow have already
announced they will mobilise more hospital beds
in anticipation of a sharp rise in cases.
(Reporting by Anton Zverev; Writing by Gabrielle
Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Maria Kiselyova and
Mark Trevelyan)
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