MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/: Some 60% Muscovites with a confirmed coronavirus infection are showing no symptoms, compared with 40% a week ago, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.
"Over the past days, the daily growth in confirmed coronavirus cases in Moscow has been more than 2,500. However, this trend is related to a growing number of tests conducted every day and indicates that the quality of diagnostics is increasing. Meanwhile, if a week ago some 40% of those ill in Moscow did not have any symptoms, today 60% of those ill are asymptomatic virus carriers. The key goal is to isolate them in order to reduce the infection’s spread," the crisis center reported.
In Moscow, the samples of patients, who tested positive for COVID-19, are sent for a second test in the so-called reference centers to confirm the disease. "If earlier the percentage of confirmations of positive tests was nearly 40% after a second test, now this number reaches 77%," the center said.
To date, a total of 36,793 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 3,057 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 313 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.