Russia reports nearly 200 more virus deaths

Russia reported its second-highest one-day death toll from COVID-19 even as the number of new coronavirus infections remained steady. The national coronavirus task force said Saturday that 197 people died over the past day, sharply up from 144 a day earlier. The highest one-day death toll was 232 on May 29.

There were 8,855 new infection cases overall. Russia has recorded more than 458,000 cases, including 5,725 deaths. Although Moscow and its surroundings have been the epicenter of the pandemic, accounting for about half of the infections and deaths, the figures reported Saturday showed only about one-third of the new infections were in the capital area.