Russia reports almost 10K new Covid-19 cases in a single day

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia confirmed 9,623 new coronavirus infections Saturday, May 2, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 124,054 and marking a new one-day record increase, The Moscow Times reports.

Russia is now the seventh most-affected country in terms of infections, having surpassed China, Turkey and Iran this week.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Thursday confirmed that he has the coronavirus, making him the highest-ranking official in Russia to contract the virus.

In total, 1,222 people have been died from the virus in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin warned Tuesday that Russia had not yet reached the peak of coronavirus infections but said a "phased exit" from the country's lockdown measures could begin in two weeks.

With the number of cases rising by several thousand daily, Putin extended a non-working period across the country until May 11, telling officials to plan for a gradual lifting of quarantines after that.