Russia marks pandemic’s record of daily deaths, infections

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s daily tolls of coronavirus infections and deaths have surged to another record, a quickly mounting figure that has put a severe load on the country’s health care system. The government’s coronavirus task force on Friday reported 32,196 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 999 deaths in the past 24 hours. Death tolls have set daily records over the past few days, nearing 1,000 as contagion spiked amid a sluggish vaccination rate and authorities’ reluctance to toughen restrictions. Despite the mounting toll, the Kremlin has ruled out a new nationwide lockdown like the one early in the pandemic that badly hurt the economy. It has delegated the power to enforce coronavirus restrictions to regional authorities.