Delta variant in Moscow: Recorded highest daily number of COVID-19 cases since pandemic began



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Image of people walking on Red Square in Moscow, Russia.  June 8, 2021. REUTERS / Maxim Shemetov
Image of people walking on Red Square in Moscow, Russia. June 8, 2021. REUTERS / Maxim Shemetov

Moscow has recorded 9,056 cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the maximum daily number of infections since the start of the pandemicRussian health authorities reported on Friday. The mayor of the city assured that almost 90% of new infections correspond to the Delta variant.

“According to the latest data we have obtained, 89.3% of patients are infected with a mutated coronavirus, called Delta, the Indian variant. And it’s more aggressive, it spreads faster“, said Sergei Sobyanin on the television channel First channel.

Given the alarming spike in infections in the Russian capital, the city council ordered the compulsory vaccination of at least 60% of employees in the service sector and reinforced other health measures.

In the last day across the country, 17,262 new cases of COVID-19 and 450 deaths from the disease were detected, including 78 in the capital.

In addition to Moscow, three other entities of the Russian Federation have decreed compulsory vaccination for certain categories of citizens.

The Deputy Mayor of the Russian Capital for Social Development, Anastasia rakova, said today that on Thursday the number of Muscovites having requested an appointment to be vaccinated has quadrupled.

People line up to receive a dose of the Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination center in the State Department warehouse, GUM, in the center from Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2021 (REUTERS / Shamil Joumatov)
People line up to receive a dose of the Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination center in the State Department’s warehouse, GUM, in the center from Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2021 (REUTERS / Shamil Joumatov)

Until Wednesday, the Russian authorities, including President Vladimir Putin, they insisted on the voluntary nature of the vaccination against COVID-19.

Russia has four COVID-19 vaccines of its own production – Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac (two doses), and the single dose Sputnik Light – but the vaccination campaign is progressing very slowly, mainly due to the reluctance of the population to be vaccinated.

A survey conducted last May by the Levada Center found that 62% of Russians are not ready to get vaccinated with Sputnik V, the main preparation used in the vaccination campaign and which, according to its developers, is 97% effective.

According to official statistics, Russia today accumulates 5,281,309 cases of COVID-19 and 128,445 deaths, and is the sixth country in the world in number of infections, after the United States, India, Brazil, France and Turkey.

(With information from EFE)

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