MOSCOW, Sept 23 Reuters - On Thursday, Russia reported 820 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, matching an all-time high set on Aug. 26, and authorities warned that cases were again rising rapidly
Moscow reported 3,445 new infections in the last 24 hours, the most reported on a single day since 31 July after a case surge over the summer, authorities said. There were 21,438 cases recorded nationwide, they said.
The Kremlin told reporters that officials were not discussing the idea of imposing lockdown measures or other restrictions, but that the Government and regional officials were monitoring the situation closely.
Although the Russian media is reporting on the rise of numbers, no decisions have yet been made anywhere in Russia Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Thirty-six regions recorded case increases this week, Rospotrebnadzor said on Wednesday, head of consumer watchdog Anna Popova.
She said the virus was circulating faster in regions where there were fewer vaccinated people. Russia, which has a population of more than 144 million people, says almost 40 million people have been vaccinated against COVID - 19.
Russia has recorded a total of 7,354, 995 cases, authorities say.
The federal coronavirus task force says 201,445 people have died of coronavirus-related causes so far, while the government statistics agency gives a greater number of 365,000 deaths from April 2020 to July 2021.
Reuters calculations from official statistics show there were 528,000 extra deaths between April 2020 and July 2021. Some epidemiologists say real deaths are the best way to calculate the excess death toll from COVID - 19?