Russia hits new record for COVID-19 deaths, resists lockdown

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — In what is becoming a common occurance, Russia has hit another record of daily coronavirus deaths as it faces a rapid surge of contagion amid lagging vaccination rates. Still, Kremlin authorities are adamant that there will be no new national lockdown. The government coronavirus task force reported 973 COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, the highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic. Russia has seen new virus death records several times this month, and daily infections have been hovering near all-time highs, with 28,190 new cases reported Tuesday. Overall, Russia’s coronavirus task force has registered 218,345 virus deaths — the highest death toll in Europe. But another Russian statistics agency says the true virus death toll could be much higher — up to 418,000 people.