Russia registers record rise in coronavirus cases

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday reported a another record increase in coronavirus infections with more than 11,000 new cases as Moscow imposes new virus restrictions and ramps up testing.

A daily government tally of virus cases in the country saw 11,231 new infections in 24 hours, bringing Russia's total to 177,160.

Russia now ranks fourth in the overall number of reported virus cases in Europe and fifth in the world, according to an AFP tally. The number of infections in Russia has been rising by more than 10,000 a day since Sunday, in contrast to countries in western Europe that are taking steps to ease lockdown measures.

Officials attribute the increase to mass testing and detecting asymptomatic cases not always counted in other countries. Health officials said on Thursday they had carried out more than 4.8 million tests.

Russia´s mortality rate is low compared to European countries hit badly by the pandemic, with health officials registering 88 new deaths for a total of 1,625. Moscow cites a series of measures taken early in the pandemic for its low mortality rate, including closing its borders and ordering the elderly and those at risk to self-isolate. But some say the discrepancy is due to how the death count is calculated.

According to official figures on Wednesday, Russia´s death rate was just 0.9 percent, compared with Germany, which is lauded for its virus response, with a fatality rate of 4.2 percent. Coronavirus cases have been registered in all of Russia´s 85 regions with Moscow the epicentre of the pandemic where officials have registered 92,676 infections.