Coronavirus cases in Russia surpass 2.5M

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Coronavirus cases in Russia exceeded the 2.5 million mark on Tuesday although the country reported a significant drop in the daily count.

Over the last 24 hours, 26,097 more people tested positive for COVID-19.

The virus claimed 562 lives over the past day bringing the death toll to 44,159. Recoveries went up by 24,938 to 1.98 million, Russia's emergency task force said in a daily report.

Currently, at least 489,324 people are getting treated for the virus in Russia.

Russian epidemiologists expect the pandemic to reach its peak by mid-December.

Russia's overall case tally is the fifth highest in the world, behind the US, India, Brazil, and France.