COVID-19: Russia reports record deaths amid surge in Delta variant cases

As Russia continues to tackle the third wave driven by the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, the country has reported a record 697 deaths on July 3. The country reported 24,439 coronavirus cases on July 3. As many as 137,262 people have succumbed to the virus in the country so far. President Vladimir Putin on June 30 had urged Russians to take vaccines although he also said that he was opposed to making inoculations compulsory nationwide.

COVID-19 cases rise in Russia

As the cases in the country continue to rise, the Kremlin insisted that the authorities were not thinking over lockdown. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily conference admitted that the situation with the coronavirus remains "tense" but said that "no one wants any lockdowns." Putin also addressed widespread vaccine scepticism in the country and urged Russians to listen to “specialists,” and not rumours. The Russian President asked people to trust homegrown vaccines over foreign jabs namely those by Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca/Oxford. He admitted that he opposed introducing mandatory vaccination policy, a view that comes in contradiction to health experts in a country battling sluggish inoculation rates. “I do not support mandatory vaccinations,” he said.

Moscow health authorities on July 1 launched booster shots for those who had been sick with COVID-19 or who have been vaccinated more than six months ago. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he had received a booster shot and urged city residents to follow suit. Moscow health authorities on Thursday started offering booster shots with the domestically produced, two-shot Sputnik V vaccine and its one-shot Sputnik Light version. 

IMAGE: AP

Inputs from AP