Coronavirus cases surge in Russia, tally now third highest globally

A new surge in coronavirus cases took Russia’s tally past those in Italy and Britain on Monday, making it the third highest in the world just hours before President Vladimir Putin was due to issue an update on the situation.

The number of new cases of the novel coronavirus rose by a record daily amount to 11,656 in the previous 24 hours, making the official tally 221,344.

The country’s coronavirus response centre also reported 94 new deaths, taking the overall death toll to 2,009. The official death toll remains far lower than in many countries, something Kremlin critics have queried.