Covid: Russia's daily deaths pass 1,000 for first time

A patient is taken to a specialist hospital for Covid treatment in Moscow

Russia on Saturday recorded 1,000 Covid-related deaths in a single day for the first time since the pandemic began.

The figure had been rising all week, with the Kremlin blaming the Russian people for not taking up vaccination.

Only about a third of the population has had a jab, amid wide distrust of the vaccines.

Russia's figure of 222,000 Covid deaths is the highest in Europe, with another 33,000 infections reported on Saturday.

The government has avoided bringing in strict restrictions because it says it needs to keep the economy working.

The Kremlin has instead focused on public apathy on vaccination.

This week, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "In a situation where infections are growing, it is necessary to continue to explain to people that they must get vaccinated.

"It is really irresponsible not to get vaccinated. It kills," he said.

The government insists the health system has not been overwhelmed and can cope with the rising number of patients.

However, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko urged doctors who had left practices because of Covid fears to get vaccinated and come back to work.

The number of active cases of infected people in Russia is around 750,000 - also the highest it has been since records started in February 2020.

Overall infections since the outbreak began are now closing in on 8 million.

Global vaccine rollout

Scroll table
World
84.0
6,614,715,637
China
154.0
2,236,874,063
India
69.5
968,362,051
US
120.6
405,444,558
Brazil
117.2
250,811,841
Japan
141.4
178,255,509
Indonesia
59.6
164,730,775
Turkey
133.4
113,418,257
Germany
130.8
109,725,662
Mexico
83.6
108,947,179
France
143.2
96,767,976
Russia
65.3
95,345,470
UK
138.6
94,560,905
Pakistan
41.5
93,551,193
Italy
144.3
87,091,580
Spain
151.7
70,919,608
South Korea
138.1
70,863,605
Iran
75.7
64,401,471
Thailand
88.6
61,995,809
Vietnam
58.5
57,457,092
Canada
150.8
57,411,734
Bangladesh
33.7
56,118,944
Argentina
120.0
54,714,920
Philippines
46.4
51,482,063
Malaysia
141.7
46,458,672
Saudi Arabia
125.6
44,374,451
Morocco
118.0
44,069,544
Colombia
85.1
43,608,145
Poland
100.7
38,051,598
Chile
175.6
33,741,276
Australia
124.1
31,994,741
Peru
90.7
30,240,477
Sri Lanka
127.3
27,358,879
Cambodia
152.1
25,772,396
Netherlands
138.6
23,793,422
Cuba
206.7
23,397,552
Uzbekistan
64.8
21,978,290
Ecuador
118.8
21,254,562
United Arab Emirates
206.1
20,588,026
Egypt
19.3
20,154,366
South Africa
32.8
19,679,751
Taiwan
79.8
19,026,022
Belgium
143.8
16,730,197
Venezuela
56.2
16,127,242
Portugal
158.4
16,104,710
Israel
178.8
15,714,041
Kazakhstan
78.8
14,969,562
Nepal
50.1
14,857,561
Ukraine
32.6
14,159,120
Sweden
138.8
14,103,587
Algeria
31.6
14,082,920
Greece
119.2
12,360,246
Dominican Republic
112.2
12,291,745
Myanmar
22.4
12,263,702
Hungary
125.7
12,111,107
Czech Republic
110.9
11,894,838
Austria
121.6
10,994,278
Romania
57.2
10,933,473
Switzerland
123.3
10,748,570
Singapore
165.6
9,762,128
Azerbaijan
89.1
9,106,934
Denmark
151.6
8,811,494
Tunisia
71.6
8,540,640
Iraq
19.9
8,187,299
El Salvador
124.2
8,096,778
Norway
144.4
7,890,409
Guatemala
43.2
7,881,191
Finland
141.2
7,833,068
Turkmenistan
123.9
7,580,976
Nigeria
3.5
7,478,203
Ireland
145.8
7,267,542
Jordan
70.2
7,213,207
Bolivia
58.6
6,931,689
Serbia
96.7
6,678,484
Uruguay
185.3
6,457,705
New Zealand
125.8
6,113,819
Costa Rica
115.2
5,921,089
Honduras
57.8
5,817,602
Zimbabwe
37.5
5,654,267
Panama
120.9
5,296,080
Oman
100.6
5,254,466
Paraguay
67.0
4,836,914
Qatar
163.1
4,780,790
Slovakia
87.0
4,752,324
Angola
13.1
4,448,653
Rwanda
33.5
4,446,234
Laos
59.7
4,402,770
Mongolia
131.8
4,389,002
Tajikistan
44.7
4,362,853
Kenya
7.7
4,210,315
Ethiopia
3.3
3,918,985
Belarus
40.9
3,862,369
Mozambique
11.4
3,677,063
Croatia
85.8
3,503,116
Lithuania
122.4
3,291,868
Lebanon
45.7
3,096,416
Uganda
5.9
2,793,657
Bahrain
154.0
2,691,511
Bulgaria
37.9
2,615,154
Ivory Coast
9.5
2,578,266
Kuwait
54.9
2,375,455
Afghanistan
5.9
2,369,625
Palestinian Territories
44.1
2,301,812
Slovenia
105.8
2,199,148
Ghana
6.9
2,189,552
Guinea
14.3
1,925,558
Georgia
47.7
1,899,938
Senegal
10.7
1,836,019
Albania
63.2
1,816,580
Libya
25.0
1,739,046
Latvia
92.6
1,728,488
Mauritius
134.6
1,713,794
Kyrgyzstan
23.8
1,578,215
North Macedonia
74.2
1,544,531
Sudan
3.3
1,499,982
Kosovo
83.1
1,476,104
Moldova
36.0
1,449,528
Estonia
105.2
1,394,281
Mauritania
27.2
1,298,995
Bosnia and Herzegovina
38.1
1,242,203
Togo
14.3
1,215,025
Cyprus
132.7
1,188,888
Trinidad and Tobago
83.0
1,165,204
Malawi
5.7
1,122,514
Fiji
120.8
1,090,963
Bhutan
139.5
1,087,753
Nicaragua
14.9
999,990
Syria
4.9
902,519
Tanzania
1.4
885,579
Jamaica
28.7
852,062
Malta
164.5
846,671
Zambia
4.4
827,347
Timor-Leste
60.3
810,855
Luxembourg
125.9
799,074
Botswana
32.7
783,999
Maldives
136.3
740,902
Niger
2.6
646,086
Somalia
3.7
599,715
Guyana
75.1
593,900
Iceland
163.8
562,426
Brunei
125.1
552,265
Armenia
17.3
514,241
Namibia
19.1
495,048
Cameroon
1.8
479,521
Montenegro
76.3
478,974
Cape Verde
82.0
460,484
Suriname
71.4
422,680
Equatorial Guinea
28.6
414,506
Mali
2.0
413,563
Congo
7.0
398,685
Lesotho
17.8
383,341
Madagascar
1.3
381,633
Comoros
40.6
360,675
Sierra Leone
4.4
359,091
Yemen
1.2
356,173
Belize
85.1
344,463
Burkina Faso
1.4
297,231
Eswatini
22.7
266,056
Barbados
88.9
255,645
Central African Republic
5.2
255,345
Benin
2.0
252,698
Bahamas
56.6
224,531
Gambia
8.4
208,379
Gabon
9.1
206,373
Papua New Guinea
2.1
194,962
Chad
1.1
183,351
Samoa
86.1
172,316
Jersey
159.5
161,258
Seychelles
150.0
148,402
Solomon Islands
20.2
141,920
DR Congo
0.2
140,254
Isle of Man
151.7
129,525
Guinea-Bissau
6.0
120,641
South Sudan
1.0
115,650
Cayman Islands
165.3
109,919
Sao Tome and Principe
46.0
102,791
Guernsey
152.6
102,340
Andorra
131.9
102,032
Antigua and Barbuda
101.1
99,846
Haiti
0.8
96,073
Liberia
1.8
93,617
Djibouti
9.2
92,097
Bermuda
141.3
87,723
Vanuatu
27.9
87,583
Saint Lucia
46.0
84,799
Gibraltar
240.7
81,080
Greenland
134.6
76,572
Faroe Islands
154.2
75,647
Tonga
69.8
74,503
Grenada
54.9
62,095
Turks and Caicos Islands
138.7
54,417
Kiribati
42.4
51,428
Monaco
126.5
49,980
Saint Kitts and Nevis
91.1
48,755
Dominica
66.6
48,091
Liechtenstein
123.3
47,173
San Marino
138.3
47,028
St Vincent and the Grenadines
31.6
35,118
British Virgin Islands
108.7
33,075
Cook Islands
128.2
22,536
Anguilla
123.7
18,704
Nauru
136.7
14,863
Tuvalu
91.1
10,861
Saint Helena
129.5
7,892
Falkland Islands
124.9
4,407
Montserrat
58.4
2,911
Niue
145.7
2,352
Tokelau
141.5
1,936
Pitcairn
200.0
94
British Indian Ocean Territory
0
0
Burundi
0
0
Eritrea
0
0
North Korea
0
0
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
0
0
Vatican
0
0
Short presentational grey line

The figures for single and full vaccination are surprising close together - both just short of a third of the population.

This suggests a large number of people do not want to be vaccinated at all. Recent opinion polls suggested that figure could be more than 50%.

Russia has not been slow in developing vaccines. Its Sputnik V was rolled out quickly last year and it has approved three others.

But it appears to have failed to convince many at home they are either necessary or reliable.

It has had more success selling Sputnik V around the world. But although the vaccine was made available for other countries quickly, it also ran into delivery issues, with some nations unable to get their doses on time.

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