A new surge in coronavirus cases took Russia’s tally past those in Italy and Britain on Monday, making it the third highest in the world just hours before President Vladimir Putin was due to issue an update on the situation.
The number of new cases of the novel coronavirus rose by a record daily amount to 11,656 in the previous 24 hours, making the official tally 221,344. Only Spain and the United States have recorded more cases than the world’s biggest country.
More than half of all cases and deaths are in Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s outbreak. The Russian capital on Monday reported an overnight increase of 6,169 new cases, bringing its official total to 115,909.