Confirmed virus cases hit daily high in Moscow

Russia's national coronavirus task force on Monday reported 17,378 new infection cases, more than double the daily tally from early June.

Over half of the cases have been reported in Moscow, where the infection numbers have tripled this month.

The soaring infection count has caused alarm among officials and increased measures to obstruct the spread.

Russian medics have raised alarms as the variant of the virus first identified in India continues to rapidly spread among people.

Sergey Tsarenko, a doctor at the City Clinical Hospital in Moscow said "it seems like we're competing in speed against the disease".

Moscow, its outlying area and two other Russian regions have ordered mandatory vaccinations for workers in retail, education and some other service sectors.

Moscow has closed food courts in shopping centres, and restaurants and bars in the capital are restricted to takeout orders from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Russians are widely resistant to vaccinations and only about 12% of the population has received a shot.

Nearly 5.3 million infection cases have been reported in the country of 146 million throughout the pandemic, with 128,911 deaths.