Russia hits record number of daily COVID-19 deaths

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has reported a record daily death toll from COVID-19, the fifth time in a week that deaths have hit a new high. The national coronavirus task force said Sunday that 890 deaths were recorded over the past day, exceeding the 887 reported on Friday. The task force also said the number of new infections in the past day was the second-highest of the year at 25,769. Russia, a country of 146 million people, has Europe’s worst confirmed virus death toll in the pandemic at 210,000 people. But despite the persistent rise in daily deaths and new cases, Russian officials say there are no plans to impose a lockdown. Mask-wearing regulations are in place in Russia but are loosely enforced.