Russia's daily COVID-19 death toll dipped to 1,192 on November 4 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit the country hard, with the situation worsening in 10 regions over the course of this week.
The government coronavirus task force on November 5 reported 40,735 new cases over the previous 24 hours, the third consecutive day new infections were above 40,000 despite a nationwide workplace shutdown this week. The daily death toll slipped from 1,195 on November 3.
More than 8.7 million infections have been recorded among Russia's 146 million inhabitants during the pandemic. The country’s official COVID-19 death count stands at 244,447 deaths, the largest in Europe and the fourth highest in the world behind the United States, Brazil, and India.
But the task force counts only deaths directly caused by the virus. The state statistics service Rosstat, which counts COVID-19 deaths using wider criteria, released figures on October 29 indicating that Russia’s death toll was about 462,000 as of the end of September, nearly twice the task force’s count at that time.
To contain the spread of infection, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a paid "nonwork" period from October 30 to November 7 during which most state agencies and private businesses are to suspend operations.
Several Russian regions said they could impose additional restrictions or extend the workplace shutdown to fight the surge in cases.
Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policy Tatyana Golikova noted on November 5 that the situation had worsened this week in the regions of Belgorod, Saratov, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Yaroslavl, Magadan, and Krasnoyarsk, as well as in the republics of Tatarstan, Tyva, and Chuvash.