Russia Reports Record Daily Increase In Coronavirus Cases

Russia on May 1 reported 7,933 new cases of the coronavirus during the previous 24 hours — a record daily increase that has brought the country’s acknowledged nationwide tally to 114,431 cases.

The daily toll is nearly 900 cases higher than the previous record of 7,099 new infections reported by Russia a day earlier.

Meanwhile, Russia’s official nationwide death toll on May 1 stood at 1,169 after the country’s coronavirus crisis response center reported 96 fatalities during the previous 24 hours.

Critics point to official figures on cases of pneumonia, which is often caused by the coronavirus, as evidence that Russia’s real number of COVID-19-related deaths is higher.

The latest tallies come a day after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced in a video call with President Vladimir Putin that he would self-isolate because he had tested positive for the coronavirus. The 54-year-old Mishustin was named prime minister in January.

Mishustin’s spokesman, Boris Belyakov, said late on April 30 that Mishustin would be kept under observation at an unnamed medical facility.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin announced that Putin had signed a decree appointing First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as acting prime minister to “ensure uninterrupted functioning of government.”

Putin and many other senior Russian officials have been working remotely in recent weeks in an effort to shield themselves from the pandemic.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax