For the fifth consecutive day, Russian health authorities have reported a record number of deaths from Covid-19. The number was 1,075 victims on Saturday, and more than 37,000 new corona infections have also been reported in the past 24 hours.
The number of corona deaths has been above a thousand a day all week, which is why a lockdown will be introduced in Moscow on October 28. All non-essential shops, cafes and restaurants must be closed, except for basic necessities such as supermarkets and pharmacies.
On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin introduced a national measure. He ordered that people should not go to work for a week from October 30 and urged regional leaders to take local measures themselves if necessary.
The official death toll from Covid-19 is now 229,528, making Russia the most affected country in Europe. But the statistics bureau Rosstat already assumed more than 400,000 deaths at the end of August.
Despite developing its own vaccine, Sputnik-V, only a third of the Russian population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus. The vaccination rate is among the lowest in Europe. The virus especially strikes among unvaccinated people over 60; 86 percent of corona deaths come from this age group.
