Russia confirmed 8,952 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, raising its total infections to 396,575, its coronavirus response centre said on Saturday.

The death toll increased by 181 to 4,555, while 167,469 people have recovered, including 8,212 over the last 24 hours, according to the statement.

Moscow, the country’s worst-hit region, confirmed 2,367 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking its total to 178,196.

As of Friday, about 307,000 people were under medical observation, Russia’s consumer rights and human well-being watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said in a statement on Saturday.

More than 10.3 million laboratory tests for COVID-19 have been conducted across the country so far, it added.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed a decree allocating 10.9 billion rubles ($155 million) to subsidise the country’s airports as the pandemic has greatly reduced passenger traffic, the government said on Saturday.

Russian gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 12 per cent year-on-year in April due to coronavirus-related restrictions, official data showed earlier this week.

Source:- Xinhua/NAN