Virus deaths in Russia hit daily record

MOSCOW — Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit a new record Tuesday and new confirmed cases remained high two days after a nine-day work stoppage ended in most of the country’s regions. The state coronavirus task force reported 1,211 COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily death toll in the pandemic, and 39,160 new cases. The task force has reported around 40,000 cases and 1,100 deaths every day since late October. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered many Russians last month to stay off work between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7. He authorized regional governments to extend the number of nonworking days if necessary, but only five Russian regions have done so. Other regions have restricted access to restaurants and other public places to people who either have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 within the last six months or tested negative in the previous 72 hours. The daily tallies of new cases and COVID-19 deaths remained high throughout the nonworking period. Officials in the Kremlin argued Monday that it was too early to tell whether the measure had worked. Russia’s fall surge in infections and deaths comes amid low vaccination rates, lax public attitudes toward taking precautions and the government’s reluctance to toughen restrictions. Less than 40% of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though Russia approved a domestically developed vaccine months before most countries. In all, Russia’s coronavirus task force has reported over 249,000 deaths in the pandemic, making it the worst off in Europe and one of the top five hardest-hit nations in the world. However, reports by Russia’s statistical service Rosstat that tally coronaviruslinked deaths retroactively reveal much higher mortality numbers.