Russia has highest daily spike in virus deaths

Russia has reported the highest daily spike in coronavirus deaths once again on Friday, with health officials registering 232 deaths in the last 24 hours, which bought the country's total to 4,374. Russia's comparatively low mortality rate continues to raise questions among experts both in Russia and in the West, with some suggesting that the country's government may be underreporting virus-related deaths for political reasons. Russian officials vehemently deny the allegations and attribute the low numbers to the effectiveness of the measures taken to curb the spread of the outbreak. Russia's coronavirus caseload has exceeded 387,000 on Friday, with health officials reporting over 8,500 new infections. Earlier this month President Vladimir Putin announced lifting some lockdown restrictions, saying that Russia was able to "slow down the epidemic" and it was time for gradual reopening. The vast majority of the country's regions have been on lockdown since March 30.