Russia sees record 67,809 new Covid-19 cases, 681 deaths in past 24 hours - HQ

MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Russia has seen 67,809 new cases of Covid-19, or 2,700 more than the day before, as well as 681 deaths in the past 24 hours, the coronavirus response headquarters said in a statement on Tuesday.

"As of January 25, Russia recorded 67,809 new cases of Covid-19 and 681 deaths," the headquarters said.

Omicron cases have been reported from 68 Russian constituent territories, compared to 64 on Monday.

Meanwhile, 12,837 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized over the past day, which is 115% more than the day before, the headquarters said.

"The number of hospitalizations grew in 79 regions, including 48 that saw an increase higher than Russia's average. There were 26,404 recoveries in the past 24 hours, up 21.6% since January 24," it said.

Coronavirus morbidity grew by 2,700 cases since Monday.

The mortality curve remains flat, around 700 deaths per day, same as it was at the end of June or the beginning of July 2021.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic in Russia, it has registered a total of 11,241,109 cases of Covid-19, including 327,448 deaths and 10,071,740 recoveries.

A new surge in coronavirus infections began in Russia on January 13, when 21,155 new cases were reported, as against 17,946 on January 12. The morbidity curve has been daily growing since then, and a spike by over 10,000 cases was observed from January 20 to January 21.

As epidemiologists predicted, coronavirus morbidity levels have been dynamic due to rapid transmissions of the Omicron variant. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that Omicron might become a new prevailing strain in Russia.

The Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) said on Tuesday that Russia has performed more than 251.1 million Covid-19 diagnostic tests to date, including 450,000 over the past day. As many as 1,686,629 people remain under medical observation.