AKIPRESS.COM - Russia confirmed more than 21,000 new coronavirus infections Monday, authorities said.

21,798 new coronavirus cases shattered Friday’s record by over 1,200 and pushed the total caseload to 1,796,132, the world’s fourth-highest count after a brief lead taken by France, Tass reports.

In the past day, 256 people have died, bringing the national death toll to 30,793. Russia’s official statistics agency said late Friday that 55,671 people with Covid-19 died from April through September, the latest available month, alone.

Moscow and St. Petersburg confirmed records of 6,897 and 1,403 new Covid-19 cases, respectively.

Russia's new cases continue to rise as regions outside Moscow report severe shortages of hospital beds, staff and medicine.

At least six Russian regions are reporting caseloads more than 10 times higher than those of the spring peak during the first wave of the pandemic.

Authorities continue to rule out a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the pandemic, opting instead for targeted measures like mandating masks in public and requiring some schoolchildren and employees to study or work from home.