Russia registers record COVID-19 deaths for 2nd day

MOSCOW

Russia reported on Wednesday a new record number of coronavirus-related deaths for the second day in a row.

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the virus claimed over 500 lives in one day in Russia -- 507 people died of COVID-19 over the past day, taking the death toll to 37,538, the country's emergency task force said in a daily report.

Meanwhile, the daily growth in coronavirus cases was the lowest since Nov.19 -- 23 675 more people tested positive for COVID-19, taking the tally to 2.16 million.

Over the same period, recoveries increased by 25,748 to reach 1.66 million, while active cases decreased from 467,126 to 464,546.

Russia's overall case tally is the fifth highest in the world, behind the US, India, Brazil, and France.