AKIPRESS.COM - Russia confirmed 8,371 new coronavirus infections Thursday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 379,051.

The number of new deaths, 174, equalled Russia's highest daily death toll recorded Tuesday, bringing the total toll to 4,142 — a rate considerably lower than in many other countries hit hard by the pandemic.

The number of people who have recovered in the past 24 hours stood at 8,785.

Officials have predicted a higher death toll for May than April, attributing this to the deaths of hospital patients who were admitted during the peak of the epidemic several weeks ago.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed a trend towards stabilization in the country's virus situation and Thursday's number of new cases was below 9,000 for the fifth day running at 8,371.