MOSCOW (AP) – Russia’s daily coronavirus infections and deaths are hovering near an all-time high on Monday, due to a slowing vaccination rate and the Kremlin’s reluctance to tighten restrictions.
Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 29,409 new confirmed cases – the highest number this year and slightly less than the pandemic’s record that reached in December.
Russia reported 957 new deaths on Monday, after recording the highest daily death toll since the start of the pandemic at 968 over the weekend.
The death toll from the pandemic in Europe already exceeds 217,000 in Russia, according to a government task force. The state statistics agency, which uses a different method of counting in which the virus is not considered the main cause of death, has reported nearly 418,000 deaths of people with COVID-19.
The sharp rise in infections and deaths began last month with the government attributing slow vaccination rates. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said on Friday that 47.8 million Russians, or about 33 percent of its nearly 146 million people, had received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine, and that 42.4 million, or about 29 percent, had been fully vaccinated. had gone.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed concern about a rise in infections and deaths and said hospitals in some areas are close to capacity.
“The level of vaccination we have is very, very low,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “That is why we have such a high death rate. We are using every opportunity to make a simple call to all citizens – go ahead and take a shot.”
Condemning Russia’s backward pace of vaccination, Peskov rejected the idea of fined those who fail to receive the vaccine and stressed that it is up to regional officials to enforce local coronavirus restrictions. Tighten it or not.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has been vaccinated with a domestically designed Sputnik V vaccine and spent two weeks in self-isolation last month after some of his close aides tested positive for COVID-19. tested positive for
Putin later praised Sputnik V’s efficiency, saying he did not contract the virus, even though he worked together all day with a colleague who became infected.
Speaking during a call with top officials on Monday, Putin had an occasional cough. When an obedient speaker of parliament’s upper house asked about his condition later during a video call, the 69-year-old Russian leader said he was feeling fine.
“Don’t worry, everything is fine,” Putin said. “I undergo tests on a daily basis not only for COVID-19 but also for other infections. It was just cold outside and I moved a little more energetically, nothing terrible. “
Some Russian regions have limited attendance at large public events and limited access to cinemas, restaurants and other venues for people who have been vaccinated, recently recovered from COVID-19 or tested negative in the past 72 hours has been done.
However, life continues as normal in Moscow, St Petersburg and several other Russian cities, where businesses are running normally and masks are mandatorily enforced. On Monday, authorities in Moscow announced an expansion of free coronavirus tests in shopping malls, saying it should help contain infections.
Overall, Russia’s coronavirus task force has recorded more than 7.8 million confirmed cases and 217,372 deaths. However, Russia’s state statistical service Rosstat reports that deaths linked to the coronavirus retrospectively reveal higher mortality rates.
Rosstat said on Friday that the coronavirus death rate figures put more than 254,000 people with COVID-19 in the first eight months of this year, compared with more than 163,000 deaths of virus patients for all of 2020. have happened.
Unlike the Coronavirus Task Force, which only counts deaths where COVID-19 was the main cause, Rostat also counts people who had COVID-19 but died from other causes. and those for whom the virus was suspected but not confirmed.
