OREANDA-NEWS. Russian authorities have begun to prepare for a new wave of coronavirus infection, which could be in early 2022, political sources told Reuters.

According to unofficial data, a new variant of COVID-19 "omicron" will be the cause of the surge in incidence.

According to sources, the number of cases of coronavirus in Russia will increase in January-February. The interlocutor of the agency stressed that over 50 thousand people with coronavirus can begin to be hospitalized per day.

Two sources in the regional government noted that the prospect of a new wave at the beginning of the coming year was discussed at the meetings.

At the moment, there is no official confirmation of the information that after the New Year the epidemiological situation in the Russian Federation will worsen.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova listed the regions where the situation with COVID-19 has worsened. Golikova called on the subjects of the country to lift restrictions with caution.

Thus, the epidemiological situation has worsened in the Vladimir region, Karachay-Cherkessia, Bashkiria, Tyva, Sverdlovsk region, as well as in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Chukotka.

For this reason, Golikova urged the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to remove restrictions with caution, as well as to increase the rate of vaccination and revaccination during the New Year holidays, given the spread of the new omicron coronavirus strain.

Earlier, Golikova named four regions with a collective immunity to coronavirus above 80%. Among them are Sevastopol (90.2%), St. Petersburg (80.9%), Chukotka (80.7%) and Karelia (80.4%).