Russia sees biggest single-day COVID-19 death toll

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Tuesday reported 320 fatalities caused by the novel coronavirus – the biggest single-day death toll since the beginning of the pandemic earlier this year.

In total, the virus has already claimed 26,589 lives in the country and the situation has recently been worsening, the country's emergency task force said in a daily report.

Over the last 24 hours, 16,550 more people tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of active cases to 362,245 and the overall number of people in Russia exposed to the infection since the beginning of the pandemic to over 1.54 million.

Meanwhile, recoveries went up 12,844 since yesterday, raising the tally to more than 1.15 million.

With the beginning of fall, the daily growth of coronavirus cases in Russia jumped from some 5,000 to over 16,000 daily.

Anna Popova, the country’s chief sanitary officer, announced on Tuesday that mass catering and entertainment events are prohibited from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. as of Wednesday.

In addition, it is obligatory to wear face masks on public transport and in parking lots, elevators, and mass gatherings where 50 or more people are present.

She also said if the situation continues to worsen, authorities could introduce stricter measures.

Since it emerged last December in China, early 43.5 million people have contracted the novel coronavirus globally, while over 1.16 million have died, and around 29.2 million recovered, according to the US Johns Hopkins University’s running tally.

The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries. Russia is a distant fourth, with some 4 million fewer cases than Brazil.