18 June
Russian authorities say the Delta coronavirus variant, first detected in India, is spearing rapidly in the country amid a resurgence of cases.
Russia confirmed more than 14,000 new infections on Thursday. That's up more than 60 percent from the end of last month.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at a government task force meeting that the capital's daily tally of new cases soared from 3,000 to 7,000 in just a few days. He added this is a huge change not seen in previous waves.
The head of the country's health watchdog, Anna Popova, noted the proportion of the Delta variant has clearly increased over the past two weeks.
Moscow has put emergency measures in place this week, including no-working days for most companies and restrictions on business hours at bars and restaurants.
But the infection situation is close to the worse levels recorded last December.
NHK
