Russia sees Covid-19 surge with almost 10,000 cases recorded in one day, as Moscow ramps up testing

Russian health officials on Saturday reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus in a single day, significantly more than the 7,933 rise during the previous 24 hours. The nation’s Covid-19 caseload now stands at 124,054.

The surge may reflect a recent increase in testing in Moscow, which is the part of Russia worst affected by the epidemic. A total of 5,358 new cases were reported in the Russian capital on Saturday, compared to 3,561 on Friday.

Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Saturday that the city has “radically improved” its screening protocols during the past week, putting Moscow among the world leaders in this regard.

“Since April 30, we have doubled the capacity of referral centers that double check earlier tests, which allowed us to analyze and confirm the backlogged results from previous days,” the mayor wrote in his blog. “We also increased the volume of antibodies express testing by 10 times over the past week.”

The reported Covid-19 mortality in Russia remains at a relatively low level. The Saturday update said 57 more people had died from the disease since Friday, compared to 96 over the previous 24-hour period.

Russian officials say there is no reason to believe the tide of the epidemic is anywhere close to being turned, however, and have called on the public to follow social distancing rules. But better testing helps with quarantine measures and allows swifter medical intervention in more serious cases.

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