Russia sees record daily COVID-19 deaths for 2nd day in row

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Friday registered a record number of daily coronavirus deaths for the second consecutive day, with the disease claiming the lives of 815 people over the past day and taking the death toll to 168,864, the authorities said.

Over the same period, COVID-19 cases went up by 22,277, taking Russia's overall count to 6.55 million and active cases to 539,864, Russia's coronavirus emergency task force said in a daily report.

Recoveries increased by 19,368 since Thursday to reach 5.84 million, it added.

Meanwhile, the situation in the capital Moscow is gradually improving, as a result, Moscow Mayor canceled most of the previously introduced restrictions.

Starting Friday, the requirement to have at least 30% of employees working remotely is canceled as well as the requirement of mandatory thermometry every four hours and testing at least 10% of the staff for COVID-19 every 15 days.

The restrictions on visiting zoos are lifted as well while preserving restrictions on visiting theaters, concerts, and cinemas.

Wearing masks and keeping a social distance of at least 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) remain in effect.

Moscow reported on Friday 2,529 new cases, 59 fatalities, and 3,043 recoveries with active cases standing at 106,527.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 4.33 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with over 205 million cases reported, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.