Russia has reported a new record one-day death toll from COVID-19, as the weekly number of coronavirus cases in Europe now stands at levels unseen since the start of the pandemic.
The Russian national coronavirus task force said on November 14 that a record 1,241 people died from the virus over the past day -- two more than the previous record reported on November 10.
The task force said 39,256 new infections were recorded, bringing the country’s total number of cases to more than 9 million.
The task force has reported more than 254,000 deaths since the pandemic began in early 2020 -- by far the highest death toll in Europe.
Russia imposed a weeklong workplace shutdown in early November, closing many businesses, that was designed to curb an uptick in case numbers.
The surge in infections and deaths has been blamed on low vaccination rates, lax public attitudes toward taking precautions, and the government’s reluctance to toughen restrictions.
Less than 40 percent of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though the country approved a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine months before most of the world.
