Daily infection cases continue to rise in Russia

Daily new coronavirus infections in Russia continued to reach an all-time high for a second consecutive day on Saturday, with 57,272 new cases reported in the country. Daily new infections in Russia have been steadily climbing since Jan. 10, when just over 15,000 new cases were registered - a number that tripled on Friday, surpassing 49,000 in less than two weeks.

Friday's daily tally was more than 10,000 higher than the previous day. Russia's authorities admit that current surge could end up as the country's biggest yet but so far haven't announced any major restrictions to stem it. 

A nationwide lockdown wasn't being discussed, officials said, and last week the government decided to indefinitely postpone introducing restrictions for unvaccinated people, which would have been extremely unpopular among vaccine-hesitant Russians. The authorities say the soaring infections so far haven't led to a spike in hospitalizations.