Russia records highest daily COVID-19 deaths

Russia recorded its highest daily COVID-19 death count on Tuesday as the country continues to struggle with getting the pandemic under control. 

There were 973 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, according to Russia’s coronavirus task force, along with more than 28,000 new cases, The Associated Press reported.

Russia has been continuously breaking its daily death count; it hit 936 deaths on Friday.

Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Tuesday 11 percent of the country’s COVID-19 patients were in serious condition as pressure builds on the health care system, according to the AP.

The national government has refused to lock down the country and has ceded decisions about pandemic restrictions to local authorities.

A number of Russian regions have imposed vaccine mandates in certain lines of work, such as government offices, retail, health care, education and restaurants, according to the AP.

“Any measure that can encourage more people to get vaccinated is good because only vaccination saves from death,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, previously said. 

The government’s task force says there have been 7.8 million recorded coronavirus cases with more than 218,000 deaths, but experts believe the number is much higher, the AP noted. 

Data from Johns Hopkins University shows only 31 percent of Russia is fully vaccinated against the virus.