RUSSIA SURPASSES 8 MILLION VIRUS CASES, DAILY DEATHS HIGH

Tue 19 October 2021:

The overall number of coronavirus infections in Russia has surpassed 8 million, accounting for more than 5% of the population, and the daily infection rate has reached a new high.

The national coronavirus task force said Monday that 34,325 new infections occurred in the previous day, bringing the total number of illnesses to 8,027,012. COVID-19 claimed the lives of 998 people the day before, bringing the total number of deaths to 224,310, the highest virus death toll in Europe.

The daily death toll is minutely lower than the record 1,002 tallied on Saturday, but it demonstrates that Russia is still grappling with the virus as vaccination rates remain low.

Russian authorities have attempted to accelerate vaccination rates through lotteries, bonuses, and other incentives, but widespread vaccine skepticism and contradictory signals from officials have hampered their attempts. According to the task force, around 45 million Russians, or 32% of the country’s population of nearly 146 million, are fully vaccinated.

Despite the rising death toll, the Kremlin has ruled out a fresh statewide lockdown, similar to the one that occurred early in the pandemic and severely harmed the economy and undermined President Vladimir Putin’s popularity. Instead, it has given regional authorities the authority to implement coronavirus restrictions.

Some of Russia’s 85 regions have restricted entrance to theaters, restaurants, and other places, as well as attendance at large public events.

The authorities in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, said on Monday that beginning Nov. 1, digital codes verifying vaccination or past infection will be required to join conferences and sporting events. Beginning Nov. 15, such codes will be required at cinemas, theaters, museums, and gyms, and they will be required at restaurants, cafes, and select retailers beginning Dec. 1.

After Moscow, the city has reported the second-highest number of new infections in the country.

The places with the highest numbers of new cases are largely in western Russia, which is more urbanized than the rest of the country, and developed areas along the Pacific Coast, such as Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. Despite this, the sparsely populated Siberian regions of Sakha and Chukotka in the far northeast are reporting high incidence rates of over 150 infections per 100,000 people over a seven-day period.

According to the official COVID-19 toll, Russia has the fifth highest number of pandemic deaths in the globe, trailing only the United States, Brazil, India, and Mexico.

(with agency)

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