MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2021) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has discussed issues relating to the arrival of Russian medical specialists to South Africa with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor, the Russian Foreign Ministry informs.
Over the weekend, a Russian plane with virology specialists and a mobile laboratory departed to South Africa to help in the fight against COVID-19.
The Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday that Lavrov discussed the arrival of Russian medical specialists with Pandor over the phone.
Earlier this month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa invited scientists from the BRICS member states to visit his nation and study the coronavirus and its mutations with local specialists.
Ramaphosa, 69, tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday, despite having been vaccinated. According to the South African presidency, he has mild symptoms and remains in self-isolation in Cape Town.
Earlier this month, Ramaphosa said that the Omicron coronavirus variant accounts for most of the new COVID-19 cases in the majority of South African provinces. The Omicron strain was first identified in South Africa in late November. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the strain as a variant of concern due to its high transmissibility rate.
