MOSCOW: Daily coronavirus deaths in Russia have hit another record, with the authorities reporting 799 deaths. It’s the fourth straight day of record number of deaths.
On Friday, officials reported 25,704 new coronavirus cases. Daily new infections in Russia have soared from around 9,000 in early June to more than 25,000 last week.
Officials blamed the surge on the spread of the delta variant and a sluggish vaccine uptake that has remained lower than in many Western countries. As of Tuesday, 28.6 million Russians -- or just 19.5% of the 146 million population -- have received at least one shot of a vaccine.
Russia’s state coronavirus task force has reported more than 5.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases and a total of 146,868 confirmed deaths in the pandemic. However, reports by Russia’s state statistical service Rosstat, which tallies coronavirus-linked deaths retroactively, reveal much higher numbers.