Russia frets as daily virus cases soar past 21,000

MOSCOW

Russia’s measures against COVID-19 have failed to produce the desired results as a spike in new infections continued in the country on Monday.

According to the latest data, 21,650 coronavirus cases were recorded in Russia over the past day, raising the overall count to more than 5.47 million and active cases to 369,708 – the highest figure since Jan. 20.

There were also 611 more fatalities in the country, taking the death toll to 133,893, while 12,626 more recoveries pushed up that count to 4.96 million.

Moscow remains the worst-hit region as the highest share of new infections – 7,246 – came from the capital.

The daily death toll in Moscow also hit a new peak of 124, according to official figures.

Mayor Sergey Sobyanin blamed the Delta coronavirus strain for the deteriorating situation in the capital.

He said Moscow “would have defeated the outbreak long ago” if not for the spread of the Delta variant, which was first detected in India and has been found to be more contagious, aggressive and difficult to treat.

Last week, officials in several Russian regions, including Moscow and its surrounding Moscow Oblast, ordered mandatory vaccination for several categories within the workforce and imposed penalties for non-compliance.

Additional measures enforced in the capital include restrictions for eateries and entertainment and sports venues.

With just over 11% of the population having received a jab so far, authorities are also trying to speed up the vaccination drive with advertisement and awareness campaigns.