MOSCOW: Russia reported today its highest Covid-19 daily death tally a day after official data revealed a surge in excess deaths in October that made it Russia’s most deadly month in a decade.
Russia, which began vaccinating vulnerable people in Moscow on Saturday, has resisted imposing a strict lockdown as it did in the spring, relying on targeted measures instead, though the Kremlin says places like St Petersburg are nearing a “red line”.
Officials reported a record 613 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 45,893, a total some critics call into question, pointing to the significantly elevated number of excess deaths during the pandemic.
There were almost 50,000 more deaths in October compared with the same month last year and, with a total 205,456 deaths, October accounted for more deaths than any other month in 10 years, according to the state statistics service Rosstat.
Moscow rolled out its Sputnik V vaccine to doctors, teachers and social workers last weekend and a senior official said on Thursday that vaccinations would begin across the country by the end of the week.
Authorities also confirmed 28,585 new coronavirus infections nationally, including 7,215 in Moscow, pushing the national case total to 2,597,711.