Moscow City Hall says health care system is ‘on the brink’ after pneumonia cases double in a week

Moscow’s health system is “working on the brink,” Vice Mayor Anastasia Rakova said after the city’s coronavirus-caused pneumonia cases doubled from 2,600 to 5,500 in a week.

“The load on the capital’s health care system has risen sharply alongside the rise in patients with severe cases. Now, our inpatient facilities and ambulance services are working on the brink,” Rakova said, according to the city’s task force to fight the COVID-19 epidemic.

As of April 10, the task force reported, Moscow hospitals are treating 6,500 coronavirus patients, 85 percent of whom have pneumonia. 7,822 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Moscow in total, with 1,124 of them added within the past day. Fifty individuals have died from the illness in Russia’s capital so far.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in an interview to RIA Novosti that he is certain the city has not hit the peak of its epidemic.