Russia reported a record daily spike in the number of people infected by the coronavirus — an increase of nearly 8,000 cases — one day after the country’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced he had contracted the illness, according to a report Friday.
The country’s nationwide infection rate soared from a reported 106,498 to 114,431 — up a total of 7,933 cases — between Thursday and Friday, according to Reuters.
Russia also reported that 96 people had died of COVID-19 in the 24-hour span, raising its overall death toll to 1,169.
The increase comes after Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he had been diagnosed with the virus and planned to self-quarantine.
The nation had been less hard-hit by the outbreak than other areas until recently — and Putin has warned the worst is yet to come.
Mishustin was the first high-ranking Russian official to announce he had contracted the deadly bug. The country has been on lockdown since late March.
