The number of new coronavirus cases in Russia hit another record Wednesday, surpassing 19,000 for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 19,768 new coronavirus cases smash Sunday’s record by more than 1,000 and push the total caseload to 1,693,454, the world’s fourth-highest number.
The national coronavirus information center said that a quarter of the newly infected Russians were asymptomatic.
A record number of 389 Russians died of the virus Wednesday, beating Thursday’s record by 23 fatalities and bringing the national death toll to 29,207.
Monthly state statistics and experts suggest the real Covid-19 death toll is at least double that figure, which is currently the 13th-highest in the world.
While Moscow remains the epicenter of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak with 5,826 new cases, St. Petersburg has for the first time notched up more than 1,000 new infections.
Russia’s Covid-19 information center said 15,567 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the overall number of recoveries to 1,266,931.