Putin: Russia on the verge of a new virus surge

By DASHA LITVINOVA
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has reiterated warnings that Russia is facing a new surge of coronavirus infections because of the highly contagious omicron variant. He said Wednesday that “it’s obvious that we are in a very difficult situation today in a situation on the verge of possible new surges (of the virus).” Putin made the comments during a meeting with top government officials and called for a “mobilization” of the country’s health care system. Russian officials this week have sounded the alarm about a looming COVID-19 surge. They pointed to the rapid spread of omicron and growing infection rates in some of the regions. The warnings came as daily new infections in Russia started to climb after weeks of declining following another record-breaking surge.