Russia recorded Sunday the highest single-day rise in confirmed cases of COVID-19, as the number of new cases stood at 10,633. This brings the total number of cases to 134,687, with Moscow having over half of cases and death.
However, mortality rates have dropped in recent days and remain lower compared to other countries.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed that the mortality rate was lower because coronavirus entered later than many other countries. This gave the government enough time to prepare.
On Sunday, the nationwide death toll in Russia rose to 1,280, with 58 people dying in the last 24 hours. This figure is according to the figures on Russia’s coronavirus crisis website.
To curb the coronavirus outbreak, Russia has been in partial lockdown since the end of March. Residents of Moscow are free to do a number of things like walking to the nearest chemist or food shop and walking their dogs. However, they need special permission to do other activities.
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Moreover, President Vladimir Putin declared that the nationwide lockdown would remain till 11 May.
On Saturday, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, implored residents to continue strict self-isolation even with the long holidays.
Russia makes progress with testing
Sobyanin said they are making progress and expanding testing capacity. This is making it easier for the authorities to treat people in need faster.
However, he said the number of sick patients was increasing, but not as the projected worst-case scenario. He said about 2% of Moscow’s 12.7 million population had been infected, a figure much higher than official statistics.
He said on his website that, “It is obvious that the threat is growing.”
Furthermore, he said authorities in Moscow could limit the number of digital permits for travel in the city if the case worsened.
Mikhail Mishustin, Prime minister and second most powerful person after Putin in Russia, said he has tested positive for the virus. So he will be stepping down temporarily to recover.
