Russia sees record high COVID-19 deaths in one day

Russia saw a record high number of COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, the most since the pandemic began last year. 

Russia’s coronavirus response center says there were 852 deaths from the virus on Tuesday, surpassing a previous record on Sept. 24 of 828 deaths, CNN reported. 

There have been 7.4 million COVID-19 cases recorded and more than 200,000 deaths in Russia so far, although the true numbers are likely much higher. 

Russia has been struggling to get a handle on the pandemic, with data from Johns Hopkins University showing only 28 percent of the country is fully vaccinated.

The virus has worked its way to top leaders in the country. Dozens of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s staffers have recently been infected, causing him to have to quarantine. 

Putin is fully vaccinated, and so far officials say he has not tested positive for the virus. 

Russia started implementing vaccine requirements in early July for some industries in order to raise vaccination rates.

Russia was the first country to approve a coronavirus shot, its homemade Sputnik V vaccine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned the rise in cases on Tuesday, CNN reported. Peskov has previously supported vaccine mandates to help fight the virus.