Russia reported a record high of 20,582 new coronavirus cases on Friday, including 6,253 infections in Moscow, bringing the national tally to 1,733,440.

Authorities also reported 378 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 29,887.

The Kremlin, which has said there are no plans for a lockdown despite the surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, told reporters the overall situation was alarming but under control.

“Unfortunately we see setbacks in some regions. The president (Vladimir Putin) knows about this and emergency measures are being taken,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“In general the situation is alarming,” he told reporters on a conference call.

The Kremlin has said that targeted measures are enough because Russia is better prepared than it was at the beginning of the pandemic.

Source: Agenceis