Russia Reports Record Daily Rise In Coronavirus Cases After PM Infection



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Russia reported a record daily increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that he had been diagnosed with the new virus and was temporarily retiring to recover.

The national case count increased by 7,933 cases and now stands at 114,431, the Russian coronavirus crisis response center said.

He said 96 people diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, had died in the past 24 hours. That brought the total death toll to 1,169.

Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he had been diagnosed with the virus and that he would isolate himself. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov will be the acting Prime Minister in his absence.

Mishustin, who had been one of the main coordinators of Russia’s response to the new coronavirus, was the first high-ranking Russian official to publicly say they had the virus.

On Friday, another member of the Russian cabinet, the construction minister, Vladimir Yakushev, announced that he had been diagnosed with the new virus and would be treated in hospital. Dmitry Volkov, one of his deputies, also tested positive for the coronavirus, the ministry said.

Russia’s outbreak had a slower start than many other countries. But cases began to rise sharply last month and on Thursday passed the 100,000 mark.

Although Russia is rising in the table of nations with the highest number of confirmed cases, so far it has recorded far fewer deaths than many of the worst affected countries.

Putin warned that the peak of the outbreak is yet to come, and authorities have said there could be a further increase in cases if the population ignores the blockade measures during the long holidays in early May.

Russia, the world’s largest country by territory, has been blocked since Putin announced the closure of most public spaces in late March to limit the scope of the virus’s spread.

Putin and the cabinet have been holding remote meetings to avoid contact.

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