"You again?!" A woman from the Urals was denied a sick-leave certificate.

      In Chelyabinsk, a polyclinic refused to issue a sick leave certificate to a local resident, even though the day before she had even called an ambulance because of an acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI).

      As Chelyabinsk resident Viktoria told reporters, on the evening of January 7 she could not go to work due to a deterioration in her condition. She developed weakness, a runny nose, and a fever. The woman called an ambulance.

      The emergency doctor diagnosed her with "ARVI, acute pharyngotracheitis," but since ambulances do not issue sick leave certificates, the patient was told to either call a doctor to her home the next day or go to the polyclinic herself.

      The woman told portal 74.RU that she often suffers from colds. But she did not expect that, in Viktoria's words, the doctor would greet her with "Oh my God, you again?" Moreover, the medic stated that because the patient did not have a fever at that moment, she was not entitled to sick leave.

      The hospital press service told 74.RU that the decision on a patient's incapacity for work is made by the doctor.

      Earlier, infectious disease specialist and Candidate of Medical Sciences Andrey Pozdnyakov said how many times a year it is considered normal to contract ARVI.