Russia records 1,682 Omicron cases, deputy PM says

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Tuesday that Russia had so far recorded 1,682 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant across 42 regions, as authorities brace for a significant rise in infections.

Omicron has pushed COVID-19 case figures to record highs in parts of western Europe and the United States but the variant has been slower to hit Russia, where daily COVID cases have fallen from a peak of 41,335 registered in early November.