MOSCOW (REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE) - Russia's coronavirus cases overtook Italian and British infections on Monday (May 11) to become the third highest in the world after a record daily rise hours before President Vladimir Putin was due to review the country's lockdown regime.
The official tally surged to 221,344, meaning Russia now has more registered cases than Italy or Britain and only trails Spain and the United States, as the number of new cases of the novel coronavirus jumped by 11,656 in the past 24 hours.
More than half of all cases and deaths are in Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's outbreak. On Monday, it reported an overnight increase of 6,169 new cases, bringing its official total to 115,909.
The country's coronavirus response centre also reported 94 new deaths, taking the overall death toll to 2,009 people. The official death toll remains far lower than in many countries, something Kremlin critics have queried.
Russian officials attribute the rising and large number of cases to a massive testing programme which they say has seen over 5.6 million tests conducted.
Mr Putin is due to hold a meeting later on Monday, a public holiday in Russia, to decide whether to modify the country's lockdown regime which entered into force at the end of March.
He will also address the nation on the deadly pandemic and measures to support the Russian economy, the Kremlin said in a statement.
He is expected to announce a decision on the lockdown then.
With the majority of cases in and around Moscow, some regions have begun to relax restrictions which have seriously affected the economy.
Sparcely populated Yakutia, Magadan and Yamal lifted restrictions on being outside and allowed the reopening of some businesses, requiring people to self-distance.
In Moscow, the mayor has announced some industries and construction sites can begin work, but masks and gloves will be mandatory starting Tuesday.
Russia's neighbours Ukraine and Georgia began to relax restrictions Monday, while Kazakhstan lifted its state of emergency.
