Russia and Ukraine reported record-high coronavirus-related deaths on October 26 amid a surge in infections.
Russia registered 1,106 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest figure since the start of the pandemic, with fatalities reaching record numbers in six of the past eight days. The state COVID-19 task force also reported 36,446 new infections, compared with 37,930 a day earlier.
Russia is set to go into a nationwide workplace shutdown in the first week of November, and Moscow will reimpose a partial lockdown from October 28, with only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets allowed to remain open.
Authorities have blamed the rising deaths and infections on slow vaccination rates. President Vladimir Putin has ordered that people who get injected should be given two paid days off work.
In Ukraine, health authorities on October 26 reported a record daily high of 734 coronavirus-related deaths over the past 24 hours.
The previous high of 614 deaths was on October 22.
Some 19,120 new infections were registered over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said. Ukraine has reported a total of 2.8 million coronavirus cases and 64,936 deaths.
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The spike in infections and deaths prompted the closure of schools in high-infection areas on October 22, including the capital Kyiv, where a two-week holiday was announced.
The government also announced a requirement for vaccine certificates or negative tests to access public transport in the capital, adding new measures to those faced by the unvaccinated, whose access to restaurants, sports, and other public events is restricted.
Only 6.8 million in a population of 41 million have been fully vaccinated.