Russia:Covid wave persists,New infections hit record

Russia’s COVID-19 cases hit another one-day record as the country struggles to contain a wave of infections that has persisted for more than a month.The national coronavirus task force on Saturday reported 41,335 new cases since the previous day, exceeding the previous daily record of 40,993 from Oct. 31. The task force said 1,188 people with COVID-19 died, just seven fewer than the daily death record reported on Thursday. Officials cite Russia's low vaccination rate as a major factor in the sharp rise in cases that began in mid-September. The task force reported about 57.2 million full-course vaccinations, or less than 40 per cent of the country's 146 million people.Last month, President Vladimir Putin ordered many Russians to stay off work between October 30 and November 7. He authorised regional governments to extend the number of nonworking days, if necessar.Several regions, including Novgorod in the northwest, Tomsk in Siberia, the Chelyabinsk region in the Ural Mountains and Kursk and Bryansk regions southwest of Moscow, have extended the nonworking period through the end of next week.

Moscow's mayor said the situation in the capital had stabilized sufficiently for people to return to work there on Monday. People in the Russia-annexed Crimea region also will resume working next week. With over 8.7 million cases registered since the start of the pandemic, Russia is one of the worst-hit countries in the world and a devastating wave this autumn has seen infections and deaths reach new records.Russian authorities have been accused of playing down the pandemic and figures from statistics agency Rosstat. It said 44,265 people died of coronavirus in September -- nearly double the official government figure -- bringing the agency's total virus toll to nearly 450,000, the highest in Europe.