Mystery virus hits Russia but Vladimir Putin officials deny big ambulance queues

19 December 2023 , 09:23

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Huge queues of ambulances have been seen outside hospitals in Russia (Image: Telegram)

Russia has denied a mysterious virus outbreak is sweeping across the country as the Government denies claims ambulances are backing up at hospitals.

Long queues of ambulances have been pictured outside infectious disease hospitals across the nation, though Vladimir Putin's officials have stressed this is ordinary. Footage shared on Sunday by Russian-language Telegram channel Baza, which claims to be linked to the country's security services, shows ambulances waiting to drop patients off at hospitals.

It reported: "A queue of ambulances at Infectious Diseases Hospitals Number One and Number Two in Moscow. Most of the sick people have pneumonia." Baza claims around 30 ambulances gathered at the first hospital, and more than 10 at the second. This follows reports from Russian media outlet MK.ru that an "incomprehensible virus began to spread across Russia".

But the Kremlin's health department in Moscow has moved quickly to calm speculation. It said in a statement: "The situation when several ambulances arrive for hospitalisation in an infectious diseases hospital is standard. The growth in the incidence of ARVI and COVID-19 in Moscow has slowed down; the figures for the last week do not exceed the data of the previous period.

"And COVID-19 incidence rates have been declining for two weeks. Over the next one to two weeks, the incidence rate is predicted to reach a plateau."

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According to the department, there's "no significant increase in hospitalisations in the city". It also mentioned that the current "morbidity situation is normal and corresponds to the epidemic season," Express.co.uk reports.

Vladimir Putin has been President of Russia since 2012 (Getty Images)

The statement continued: "Having up to 24 cars on-site at the same time is standard practice during peak hours and is not a queue or an emergency situation. The hospital regularly monitors the arrival of patients; the situation, when there were about 23 cars on the territory, was resolved within half an hour. In [hospital] Number Two, similarly...the presence of 10 cars on the territory is the absolute norm."

Last week, Vladimir Putin's own citizens turned on him at a bizarre press conference - in which they were able to question their leader on anything they liked. The members of the public took their chance to grill the 71-year-old world leader at the briefing in Moscow, with several questions concerning whether the nation was in touch with "reality".

Bradley Jolly