Russia has confirmed a record daily death toll from the coronavirus at 317 fatalities Wednesday as the country sees a record-breaking surge in cases but resists reintroducing strict lockdown measures.
The previous highest death toll of 286 Covid-19 deaths was recorded last Thursday.
The new increase brings Russia’s overall Covid-19 death toll, as reported by the national information center that collates daily figures from regional centers, to 24,952. Monthly state statistics and experts have suggested the real death toll is at least double that figure.
Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak, confirmed 63 deaths, setting its own record for Covid-19 fatalities. The city now accounts for 6,121 of Russia’s Covid-19 deaths.
The record daily death toll comes one day after Russia saw its highest one-day increase of 16,319 new Covid-19 infections. It added 15,700 new infections Wednesday.
Russia’s official number of cases stands at 1,447,335, the fourth-highest in the world.
The surge in new infections comes as authorities continue to rule out a return to strict restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. Instead, they have introduced targeted measures at what are deemed to be Covid-19 hotspots and are urging residents to follow health guidelines until mass production of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine begins in the next few months.
Authorities had introduced unpopular lockdown measures in the spring, including bans on taking non-essential walks outside, when Russia saw fewer than 10,000 daily Covid-19 cases on average.
Senior Russian healthcare professionals have said they expect the country’s number of daily Covid-19 infections to peak at 20,000 before stabilizing by November.