Russia has registered more than 1,200 deaths from coronavirus for a week

Russia today registered more than 1,200 deaths from coronavirus for the eighth consecutive day, approaching the maximum number of deaths -1,241- reported last Saturday, local authorities reported.

During the last 24 hours in the country, 36,818 cases of coronavirus and 1,240 deaths were counted, according to the daily balance of the center for the fight against infectious disease in this country.

The highest number of deaths was reported in Moscow (97), followed by Saint Petersburg (78) and the Moscow region (54).

However, the Russian capital, the main focus of the pandemic in this country, reported a decrease in daily infections, registering 2,606 positives in the last day, compared to the 3,789 infections reported the previous day.

The Russian authorities attribute the sharp increase in infections and deaths in recent weeks to the aggressiveness of the Delta variant, the lack of strict compliance with sanitary rules by many Russians and, above all, to the low vaccination rate in the country.

By last Friday only 57,961,578 citizens had received the complete vaccination schedule, which places herd immunity at 49% of the 80% to which the authorities aspire.

According to official statistics, since the beginning of the pandemic in Russia 257,837 people from covid-19, although government data on excess deaths in the same period almost double this figure.

Faced with the worsening of the epidemic situation, the Government has sent a bill to Parliament to introduce the mandatory use of a health pass in public places and in transport.

The government plans to implement the new law, which has yet to receive the approval of parliamentarians, as of February 1.

Until then, the unvaccinated will be able to access “covid-free” facilities and use other non-essential services with a negative PCR test.

Simultaneously, Russia is awaiting the approval of its Sputnik V vaccine by the World Health Organization (WHO)

This Tuesday, the director of the Fund for Direct Investments of Russia (FIDR), Kiril Dmitriev, trusted that the WHO will issue its verdict before the end of the year.

Dmitriev reiterated that Sputnik V and the Sputnik Light booster vaccine have proven their complete safety and reliability, and have already been supplied to more than 100 million people abroad, in addition to their wide use in Russia.

With 9,145,912 accumulated cases, Russia It is the fifth country in the world after the United States, India, Brazil and the United Kingdom by the number of documented infections.