Russia sees record number of single-day coronavirus fatalities

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - For the fourth time in 10 days, Russia registered on Saturday a record number of single-day coronavirus fatalities, 752 people died over the past day, taking the death toll to 142,253.

The daily infections remain high as well, with 25,082 people testing positive for COVID-19 since Friday, taking the overall count to 5.75 million and active cases to 433,210, Russia's coronavirus emergency task force said.

Over the same period, recoveries went up by 17,750 to reach 5.18 million, it added.

The situation in the capital Moscow remains tense, it still makes up almost half of all country's caseload, with 5,694 new infections, raising the number of active cases to 178,524.

Recoveries in Moscow rose by 7,035 over the last 24 hours, while fatalities increased by 108.

In June, officials in several Russian regions, including Moscow and its surrounding Moscow Oblast, ordered mandatory vaccination of several categories of employees, introducing penalties for non-compliance.

Additional measures were announced in Moscow, including restrictions for visiting eateries, entertainment, and sports venues.

More measures were introduced in the capital in July to stem the rise, including mandatory isolation and PCR tests for people suffering from flu-like symptoms to break the chain of infection.

Officials are preparing reserve capabilities for COVID-19 patients to prevent any crises in the healthcare system, but a lockdown is seen as the last resort, and will be introduced only if other efforts do not work.