Russia’s daily COVID-19 death toll hits all-time high this week

Russia has reported a surge in daily death toll due to COVID-19, showcasing the fifth time in a week with high death numbers.

According to the national coronavirus task force of Russia, approximately 890 deaths were recorded on Thursday, out beating the 887 which were reported on Friday. The agency also disclosed that new infections reported recently were second-highest in the year at 25,769.

In total, over 210,000 individuals have died due to the pandemic in Russia, a country with a population of 146 million people.

Despite Russia’s daily surge in deaths and new cases, its officials insist they have no intentions to implement a curfew. Instead, mask-wearing restrictions are imposed, although they are lightly enforced.

Moscow tried to mandate the proof of vaccination or a COVID-19 negative test report for customers at restaurants and bars temporarily. However, it later scrapped that policy as business owners criticized of reduced revenues.

Even though Russia proclaimed developing Sputnik V, the world's first coronavirus vaccine, just 32.5% of Russians have received at least one vaccination dose and only 28% are completely vaccinated.

As a result, critics have mostly blamed the pandemic on a faulty vaccination rollout and conflicting signals from officials regarding the outbreak.

Additionally, coronavirus antibody testing is done in Russia, which some experts believe adds to low vaccination rates.

According to health professionals, antibody testing is insufficient for diagnosing COVID-19 or determining immunity to it. Antibodies found in these tests can only be used as proof of a previous illness.

In addition, scientists say it is yet unknown what amount of antibodies signals protection from the virus and how long that protection lasts.

Notably, since mid-September, when numerous people in the Kremlin were confirmed to be infected, President Vladimir Putin has observed self-isolation several times. Also, after returning from his most recent phase of isolation, Putin met with Turkey's president last week.

Source Credit - https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-10-03/russia-hits-record-number-of-daily-covid-19-deaths