Russia's coronavirus cases, deaths soar with new record

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia on Friday saw new records in coronavirus spreading as daily fatalities hit peak for the fourth consecutive day while daily cases exceeded 35,000.

According to a report by the country's emergency task force, 1,064 people died of the disease, raising the total death toll to 228,453.

A total of 37,141 people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past day, taking Russia's caseload to 8.16 million and active cases to 822,792. The overall recoveries stood at 7.11 million after 25,453 more people recuperated.

Commenting on the situation in the capital, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the city can face a pandemic's peak by the end of the week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation with the virus' spread "extremely difficult," expressing hope for the upcoming nationwide non-working period to help slow down the pace.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 4.93 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with over 242.6 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US' Johns Hopkins University.