Russia posts record coronavirus deaths for third day in a row
Russia on Thursday reported 672 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, according to a government tally, setting a pandemic high of fatalities for the third day in a row, AFP reported.
The country is battling a surging outbreak driven by the highly infectious Delta variant and worsened by a lagging jab drive, with President Vladimir Putin urging Russians on national television Wednesday to get vaccinated.
The daily death toll released Thursday topped Wednesday's record of 669 and Tuesday's of 652.
Saint Petersburg, which is due to host the Spain vs. Switzerland Euro 2020 quarter-final on Friday in front of thousands of spectators, saw the most deaths with 115.
In Moscow, where the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said that the Delta variant -- first identified in India -- accounts for 90 percent of cases, authorities have introduced a host of new restrictions.
Russia, with 135,886 deaths from the virus, has the highest official toll from Covid-19 in Europe -- even as authorities have been accused of downplaying the severity of the country's outbreak.