A partial lockdown has been imposed in Russia’s capital city Moscow after a nationwide surge in daily coronavirus cases and deaths. All non-essential services including school and restaurants are shut for 11 days in order to stop the surge in coronavirus infections.

Russian government today reported a record increase in daily coronavirus cases with – 40,096 new infections and 1,159 fresh fatalities.

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All non-essential services, including retail outlets, restaurants, and sporting and entertainment venues along with schools and kindergartens will be closed until November 7.

Only shops selling food, medicine, and other essentials will remain open, as the government tries to tackle a coronavirus wave that has seen infections and deaths hit new records.

In the past weeks, Russia has seen the highest jump in daily cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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Russia has been one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic. It has reported more than 230,000 deaths.

Despite being one of the first few countries to come up with a vaccine, Russia has struggled with low vaccination rates so far.

According to the Gogov website, only 32% of Russia’s population had been vaccinated.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a nationwide lockdown from October 30 till November 7 in order to stop rising infections and death toll.

Authorities have requested people to stay at home during non-working hours.

On Wednesday, Russia registered a record 1,123 coronavirus deaths in a single day, bringing its total fatalities to 233,898 – the highest death count in Europe.

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Russia has officially reported more than 8.3 million cases but some independent experts believe that Russian authorities have downplayed the severity of the pandemic.

Statistics published by Rossat agency in October show a severe picture, according to its figures more than 400,000 people have died in the country from the coronavirus.