"The experience of foreign countries is invaluable to us, because many of them have already passed [the infection] peaks, went through the quarantine regime, many are in the stage of overcoming the crisis, simply a national tragedy is behind there. There were thousands of dead, hundreds and tens of thousands who recovered from this disease and had a severe form [of the disease]. Of course, it is important for us how the health care system worked there, what measures were taken, what worked out and what did not, and what the situation is like today", Sobyanin said in a televised interview.
According to the mayor, Moscow was able to take adequate COVID-19 measures thanks to learning from the experience of foreign countries.
Sobyanin added that temporary hospitals were being built in Moscow to prepare the city for the COVID-19 infection peak.
"As for the opening of temporary hospitals in larger facilities, such as shopping centres and sports facilities, this practice was used in almost all countries which experienced the pandemic. What advantage does this provide? Since there is not enough medical personnel to work in each room of 1-2 people, it is better to have large spaces with good ventilation and airflow, so that a doctor can see several patients at once and more people could be taken care of", Sobyanin noted.
In the meantime, the mayor believes that the Moscow Institute would develop a vaccine against coronavirus.
"The vaccine is being developed by closed medical research institutes that have access to this work, they must have a high level of protection, this is very important. But judging by what was reported to the president at one of the meetings, it is quite possible that the Moscow Institute would be the developer of such a vaccine. Then we will be able to talk about production, as there are opportunities to produce it in Moscow", Sobyanin said.
He added that the question of the time frame was rather a matter of science.
"I’m sure that sooner or later this will happen, either in our country or abroad, but it is advisable that we have it. As far as I know, there are such developments, they are very serious", Sobyanin noted.
The mayor went on to say that a thousand medical workers in Moscow have already recovered from COVID-19, while another thousand are currently undergoing treatment.
Russia has registered 124,054 coronavirus cases and 1,222 deaths as of Saturday, according to the official operational data.
