Russia confirms 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day

On Monday May 4th, Russia confirmed 10,581 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 145,268.

Russia is now the seventh most-affected country in terms of infections, having surpassed China, Turkey and Iran last week.

Seventy-six people died over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 1,356.

Even Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Thursday confirmed that he had tested positive for coronavirus, making him the highest-ranking official in Russia to contract the virus. 

Russia is emerging as a new hotspot for the coronavirus as many countries in western Europe begin to ease lockdown measures after their rates of new infections and deaths dropped.

Despite the sharp rise in cases, Russia’s official fatality rate has remained low in comparison to countries including Italy, Spain and the United States.

Russia marks several public holidays in early May, including Victory Day on May 9 to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany on WWII.

President Vladimir Putin had planned a major celebration for this year’s 75th anniversary, with world leaders in attendance as thousands of troops and tanks paraded through Moscow’s Red Square.

Fighter jets loudly flew over Russian skies on Monday as they were rehearsing for the event.

However coronavirus forced Russia to cancel the parade. and the day will now be marked with military aircraft flying over major cities only.