Russia Records Two Dark Records, 1,002 Killed And 33,208 Infected With COVID-19 In A Day

Illustration of a COVID-19 hospital in Russia. (Wikimedia Commons/Алексей ефилов)

JAKARTA - Russia reported a record 1,002 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, the first time the daily death toll has crossed the 1,000 mark since the pandemic hit the country.

Not only that, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours reached 33,208 cases, setting a record for the fifth day in a row, Russia's coronavirus task force said, citing Reuters October 16.

Russian authorities have blamed a slow vaccination campaign for a sharp increase in infections and deaths, which forced the Health Ministry this week to ask retired vaccinated medics to return to hospitals.

Russia estimates about 45 percent of its population may have immunity to the coronavirus, after receiving the vaccine or recovering from the disease, data published by the coronavirus task force on Saturday showed. In Moscow, the figure is 61 percent and around the capital it is 64 percent.

Russia quickly developed and launched a Sputnik V vaccine when the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, but acceptance has been slow, with many Russians citing distrust of authorities and fear of new medical products.

Only about 48 million of Russia's 144 million people are fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the coronavirus task force, with 51 million receiving one injection.

With the addition of the latest coronavirus deaths, bringing the official national death total to 222,315, for a total of 7,958,384 infection cases.

Statistical service Rosstat, which makes a separate tally of coronavirus deaths, said this month, some 418,000 deaths were recorded between April 2020 and August 2021.

The excess deaths in Russia, which some epidemiologists say is the best way to measure the impact of the pandemic, totaled an additional 575,000 deaths in the same period compared with the 2015-2019 average death rate.