Russia sees record daily virus growth 4th time in week

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Saturday registered a record number of daily coronavirus cases for the fourth time in one week, with the additional fatalities and recoveries also showing new highs.

According to the authorities, 24,822 people contracted the virus over the last 24 hours, taking the tally to over 2.06 million.

Over the same period, the virus claimed 467 more lives, also a new record since the beginning of the pandemic, taking the death toll to 35,778 while recoveries rose by 26,021 -- a new record number -- nearing 1.57 million since yesterday.

The rising number of recoveries and deaths, outnumbering new cases, resulted in dropping number of active cases, which are going down for the fifth day in a row, currently standing at 451,535.

Russia's overall case tally is the fifth highest in the world, behind the US, India, Brazil, and France.

Despite a surge in numbers, it has resisted plans to reintroduce national lockdown restrictions, which were implemented in spring. Separate measures in different regions, however, are in place.