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MOSCOW: Russia’s national count of confirmed cases of coronavirus increased on Thursday (April 30) after a record increase in new infections, days after President Vladimir Putin warned that the peak of the outbreak was yet to come.
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.
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This week, Russia outnumbered China and Iran in the number of confirmed cases stemming from the global pandemic. But 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.
Russia’s nationwide case count now stands at 106,498, its coronavirus crisis response center said Thursday. He said 101 people diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, had died in the past 24 hours. That brought the official total number of deaths to 1,073.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that federal and regional authorities were doing everything possible to try to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“The situation in Russia is really better than in many European countries because Russia managed to use a span of several weeks to urgently expand the capabilities of the health system,” Peskov said.
However, the figures showed that it was too early to relax and walk the streets as usual, he added.
Although authorities have rushed to build new hospitals or convert existing ones, the country’s health system shows signs of tension.
A decree of April 27 jointly issued by the ministries of health and education and seen by Reuters shows that medical students, including future pediatricians and dentists, are asked for practical training in dedicated coronavirus hospitals starting May 1. , despite not specializing in infections.
The mother of a Moscow midwifery student told Reuters that authorities have not yet explained how the work would be organized or say whether the students would be paid.
“Many (students) are now talking to their lawyers … Many are simply completing documents, but they will not go,” he said.
Russia is now in its fifth week of a blockade that, along with the collapse of oil prices, has put the economy on track for a 4-6 percent contraction, according to the central bank.
Putin, addressing the nation on television on Tuesday, said the blockade measures would have to be suspended for another two weeks. “The situation is still very difficult,” he said. “We are facing a new stage and perhaps the most intense to counter the epidemic.”
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