Russia now world No. 2 in virus cases
COVID-19 spread puts Putin approval at nadir
MOSCOW — As the coronavirus outbreak eases in Western Europe and parts of the United States, the number of cases is rising steadily in Russia, a crisis that has damaged President Vladimir Putin’s standing and stirred suspicion that the true death toll in the country is being concealed.
Russia is now behind only the United States in the number of reported infections. The number of cases is also spiking in India, South Africa and Mexico.
On Tuesday, new hot spots emerged in Russia, and the country recorded nearly 9,300 new infections in 24 hours, bringing the total to almost 300,000. About half of them are in Moscow.
Authorities say over 2,800 people with COVID-19 have died in Russia, a figure some say is surely higher.
In Russia’s second-largest city of
St. Petersburg, a virus hot spot, all burials now must be with closed coffins as a precaution, irrespective of the cause of death. Previously the measure applied only to COVID-19 deaths.
The country’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, resumed work Tuesday after a bout with the disease. Putin’s approval ratings sank last month to 59 percent, the lowest in the two decades he has been in power, Russia’s independent pollster the Levada Center reported. The plunge reflects growing mistrust and uncertainty among Russians, Levada said.
The surges come as much of Asia and Europe and many U.S. states have been easing lockdowns to restart their economies as new infections wane. U.S. autoworkers, French teachers and Thai mall workers are among hundreds of thousands of employees back at work with new safety precautions.
The number of cases is still rising across Africa, where all 54 nations have seen confirmed infections, for a total of over 88,000 cases and 2,800 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latin America has seen more than 480,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and about 31,000 dead. The highest number of cases is in Brazil.
Some countries have seen encouraging signs reverse. Iran reported a steady drop in new infections through April, only to see the number rise again in May.
In India, the number of cases surged past 100,000 and is rising in the home states of migrant workers who fled cities and towns during a nationwide lockdown when they lost their jobs.
In other developments:
Member states of the World Health Organization unanimously passed a resolution brought by European Union members, African nations and others calling for an independent “comprehensive evaluation” of the international response to the COVID-19 outbreak coordinated by the U.N. health agency.
A British army veteran who shuffled the length of his garden 100 times to raise funds for the National Health Service is to be honored with a knighthood. Tom Moore received a special nomination for the honor from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, just weeks after he raised $40 million for completing the challenge to mark his 100th birthday.
Australia’s trade minister said Tuesday that his country does not want a trade war with China but maintained that Beijing had erred by imposing stiff tariffs on Australian barley in what is widely seen as punishment for advocating an investigation into the coronavirus pandemic.