MOSCOW: Russian authorities have registered a record number of coronavirus deaths for a second straight day.
The government coronavirus task force reported 507 new deaths on Wednesday, the country's highest daily toll. The previous record of 491 deaths was reported on Tuesday.
A total of 37,538 people have died from the coronavirus in Russia, according to the task force.
Russia has been swept by a rapid resurgence of the outbreak this fall, with numbers of confirmed infections and deaths hitting new highs almost daily and significantly exceeding those reported in the spring.
The country's authorities have rejected the idea of another nationwide lockdown or widespread closure of businesses, even as media reports from Russian regions showed that the healthcare system was under severe strain.
On Wednesday, officials reported 23,765 new confirmed cases. Russia currently has the world's fifth largest coronavirus caseload of over 2.1 million.