Russia broke another one-day coronavirus death toll record Friday, as more regions reimpose restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus and the Kremlin stops short of reintroducing nationwide measures.
A government tally recorded 936 Covid deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of total deaths based on daily figures to 213,549. Russia’s total excess fatality count since the start of the pandemic is around 596,000 according to Moscow Times estimates.
Russia has now reported record numbers of one-day Covid deaths for eight of the last 11 days.
The country also recorded the world’s highest number of new Covid cases, with Russia’s virus task force saying 27,246 people tested positive in the past 24 hours.
Russia has Europe’s highest total Covid-19 death toll of at least 213,500 people, and its second-highest caseload of almost 7.7 million.
The latest figures come as several Russian regions announce a return to self-isolation rules for vulnerable people, QR codes for attending certain venues and vaccine mandates for certain segments of the population.
The Kremlin said Thursday it is working to promote Russia’s low vaccination rates without returning to Covid rules that were imposed at the start of the outbreak in the spring of 2020.
“Any measure that can encourage more people to get vaccinated is good because only vaccination saves from death,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
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