Russia bans mass gatherings amid Covid-19 surge

Mass gatherings will only be allowed in accordance with regulations issued by Russia's chief sanitary doctor, head of the country's consumer rights and human well-being watchdog Anna Popova said.

She stressed that it is vital to speed up vaccination to reach herd immunity, as Russia's total Covid-19 caseload has surged by 14 per cent over the past week, reports Xinhua news agency.

The official called the epidemiological situation "extremely tense" with the most significant increase in infections among the elderly.

Russia has registered over 25,000 new cases for three consecutive days, battling a new wave of infections since mid-September.

The nationwide death toll grew by 883 over the past 24 hours, slightly down from a record number of 890 a day earlier. 

Since the onset of the pandemic early last year, Russia has registered a total of 7,500,000 Covid-19 cases and 207,056 deaths.