Moscow (AFP)

Moscow on Saturday recorded a new record of cases of contamination by the coronavirus for the second day in a row, with 9,120 infections in 24 hours, according to government figures.

The Russian capital had already identified 9,056 new cases the day before, against around 3,000 daily cases two weeks ago.

This Covid-19 outbreak is due, according to the authorities, to the Delta variant, which has appeared in India and which threatens to overwhelm hospitals in the capital.

The country has recorded a total of 17,906 new cases and 466 additional deaths in the past 24 hours, a peak since March 13.

The capital deplores 76 new deaths.

Faced with this situation, the deputy mayor of Moscow, Anastassia Rakova, announced that the city will increase the number of hospital beds for Covid patients from 17,000 to 24,000 over the next two weeks.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday that nearly 90% of patients were infected with the Delta variant.

He had been forced to reintroduce restrictions in the capital, but which remain limited in order to preserve the economy.

The mayor announced on Friday the cancellation of entertainment events for more than 1,000 people, resulting in the closure of the Euro football fan-zone at the Luzhniki Olympic complex.

He extended until June 29 the closure, decreed last weekend, of eating places in shopping centers, or public park facilities, such as playgrounds, and the closure of restaurants and bars. between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

Mr. Sobianine also decreed on Wednesday compulsory vaccination of employees in the service sector.

Some 60% of them, or about two million people, must be vaccinated by August 15.

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The recent outbreak was helped by a laborious vaccination campaign, with Russians overwhelmingly suspicious of vaccines developed in their country, the lack of restrictions for months and failure to comply with distancing and mask-wearing rules.

Since December, only 19.4 million Russians out of 146 million have received at least one dose of vaccine, or about 13% of the population, according to the Gogov site, which aggregates data from regions and media for lack of official national statistics.

Russia is, with 128,911 deaths recorded by the government, the most bereaved European country.

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The Russian statistics agency, Rosstat, which has a broader definition of Covid-related deaths, has recorded some 270,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

© 2021 AFP