Russia on Friday reported a record daily rise in
the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, a day after Prime Minister
Mikhail Mishustin announced he had been diagnosed with the new virus and
was temporarily stepping down to recover.
The nationwide case tally rose by 7,933 cases and stood at 114,431, Russia's coronavirus crisis response centrer said.
It said 96 people diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease
caused by the coronavirus, had died in the last 24 hours. That raised
the official overall death toll up to 1,169.
Mishustin, the prime minister, told President Vladimir Putin on
Thursday that he had been diagnosed with the virus and would
self-isolate. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov will serve as
acting prime minister in his absence.
Mishustin, who had been one of the main coordinators of Russia's
response to the new coronavirus, was the first high-ranking Russian
official to publicly say they have the virus.
Russia's outbreak got off to a slower start than many other
countries. But cases began to sharply rise last month and on Thursday
surged past the 100,000 mark.
Although Russia is rising up the table of nations with the highest
number of confirmed cases, it has so far recorded far fewer deaths than
many of the hardest-hit countries.
Putin has warned the peak of the outbreak has yet to come, and the
authorities have said there could be a new spike in cases if the
population flouts lockdown measures during long public holidays in early
May.
The world's largest country by territory, Russia has been on lockdown
since Putin announced the closure of most public spaces in late March
to limit the scope for the virus to spread.
Putin and his cabinet have been holding remote meetings to avoid contact.
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