Russia reported a surge of new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing their number of confirmed cases to the third-highest in the world.
The country reported 11,656 new cases overnight, the largest 24-hour jump Russia has seen since the start of the outbreak, according to the Reuters tally.
Russia now sits behind the U.S. and Spain in reporting the highest number of confirmed cases in the country. There have been 221,344 reported cases of COVID-19, 2,009 deaths and 39,801 recoveries. Russia has a population of 144.5 million.
Officials have said the rising number of cases and low number of deaths is due to an expansive testing program, which has reportedly conducted 5.6 million tests.
Moscow, which has emerged as the epicenter of the outbreak in Russia, has reported more than half of all cases and deaths in the country and has implemented strict lockdown precautions in an effort to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus.
President Vladimir Putin on Monday was scheduled to issue a public update on the outbreak in the country. Last month, he extended the lockdown in the country until May 11 when officials were expected to announce a plan to begin easing restrictions.
Officials have now been ordered to establish a plan to restart the country’s economy by June 1.
