Perevoščikovs said that it was more likely that the use of masks in public places would be reinforced, and mass events could be affected.
He estimated that the respite from Covid-19 was very short, and this summer the surge of morbidity began three or four weeks earlier, so that if the trend of the rise in morbidity was similar to last year, the peak could be reached around October or the end of October.
The epidemiologist said that the Omicron variant of the virus manifests as a runny nose or temperature, but pneumonia is extremely rare, helping hospitals because the influx of patients is not as large as it was with previous variations of the virus.
In assessing past failures in the field in tackling Covid-19, Perevoščikovs acknowledged that the importance of masks has been misexplained. People still believe that masks are meant not to infect them, and therefore they do not work. In fact, however, they are a means of preventing others from becoming infected.
