Vladimir Putin met with the head of Rospotrebnadzor Popova
Photo: kremlin.ru.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed in the Kremlin how the country is fighting infections and protecting people from new viral threats.
– Good afternoon! It’s your professional holiday, congratulations, Putin began the meeting. – In recent years you have faced serious trials, in fact, together with the whole country. You rose to the occasion, and that is what I wish for the future.
“Thank you very much for your congratulations, Vladimir Vladimirovich,” Popova thanked her for her support. – Your feedback is very important to us. Two years ago you told us that it was necessary to create a health shield for the country and we are working on it. Last year, economic losses worth 865.9 billion rubles were avoided thanks to our measures to reduce the number of infectious diseases.
The head of the department added that Rospotrebnadzor is constantly improving its technologies: “Now we have a unified information and analysis system. We know about all infectious diseases in the country in a matter of seconds.”
The President asked why viruses are spreading faster now than before.
– We have more contacts, we eat more outside the home and we are already dependent on companies that produce a large quantity of products at once. Any violation immediately poses a risk to a large part of the population, – explained Popova. – Viruses take advantage of this and penetrate the body very quickly, they are also smaller and multiply faster, which makes it harder to fight them.
The head of Rospotrebnadzor told how the network of mobile laboratories is developing:
– We currently have 71 mobile laboratories, all of them based on Russian cars. We can reach any point in Russia and quickly help you on the spot.
Popova added that laboratories are now being created at helicopter bases. For the sake of clarity, she even brought a small model of what this would look like in the future to the President’s reception.
– We are already working with Rostec and Russian Helicopters. The project should be completed within three years. These laboratories will allow us to reach places where there are no roads and will ensure safety not only here but also abroad, said the head of Rospotrebnadzor.
When the conversation turned to the new testing systems, Putin couldn’t resist cracking a joke: “Aren’t you putting the ‘snot virus’ in there?”
“This is nonsense,” Popova replied with a smile. “We only included those viruses that are really dangerous to health.”
At the end of the meeting, Putin thanked Popova and her team for the work done and expressed confidence that Rospotrebnadzor will continue to successfully protect citizens’ health.
