Russia reports 936 Covid deaths on Friday

Moscow: Russia’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a new record on Friday amid the country’s sluggish vaccination rate and the Government’s reluctance to tighten restrictions.

Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 936 new deaths on Friday, the highest daily number since the start of the pandemic. It was a third straight day when daily Covid-19 deaths topped 900.

Russia already has Europe’s highest death toll in the pandemic — more than 2,14,000 — and the authorities’ conservative way of recording Covid-19 fatalities suggests the actual number could be even higher.

On Friday, the Government’s



task force reported 27,246 new confirmed cases, just slightly less than Thursday’s number of 27,550, which was the highest so far this year.

A steep rise in infections and deaths began in late September, with authorities blaming it on the low vaccination rate. As of Tuesday, almost 33% of Russia’s 146 million people had received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine, and 29% were fully vaccinated.

But the Kremlin has shrugged off the idea of imposing a new nationwide lockdown, delegating the power to tighten restrictions to regional authorities.