Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg register record COVID-19 fatalities

Russia reported over 21,650 coronavirus cases which was the highest since January amid the European Championship matches as capital Moscow continued to witness virus surge.

The Russian capital which has been the epicentre of the virus since last year recorded over 7,200 cases and 124 deaths in the last 24 hours with St. Petersburg which is set to host the European Championships quarter-final on Friday recording 1,335 new cases and 110 fatalities.

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Authorities in Moscow tightened restrictions allowing only vaccinated people to be served in cafes as authorities scrambled to combat the virus.

Reports say hospitalisation and patients in ICU have grown exponentially as Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the situation was "extremely difficult".

The Moscow mayor had earlier said the Delta variant was the dominant strain in the capital.

Saint Petersburg which has hosted six Euro 2020 matches is set to host the quarter-final encounter on Friday with health officials worried over the virus numbers.

Russia has reportedly inoculated just over 21 million people in a population of 146 million as Moscow authorities ordered mandatory jabs for service sector employees.

However, reports said several regions in Russia have been experiencing a shortage of vaccines despite the country having produced the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in August last year.

Russia has over 5.5 million coronavirus cases with 133,893 deaths due to the virus. On Sunday, the country had reported 619 fatalities which was the highest since December last year.

(With inputs from Agencies)