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The
number of cases jumped by 1,459 and 13 more people died, the
national coronavirus crisis response centre said on its website.
That brings the overall death toll to 76.
Moscow, the worst-affected region, and many other regions are in
their second week of a partial lockdown. Residents have been
told to stay at home unless they need to make essential trips to
buy food or access urgent medical care.
Russia recorded far fewer cases of the new coronavirus than many
Western European countries in the early outbreak stages. But the
number of cases began to rise sharply this month and the virus
has now spread well beyond Moscow, the epicentre.
Russian officials until late last month were saying that the
situation was under control and that there was no epidemic.
Their tone changed however after Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin,
who has taken a prominent role in the crisis, cast doubt on the
veracity of official figures and said the real situation was
much worse than it looked.
Putin, 67, has told Russia's regional governors to tailor their
response measures to meet local needs. Some anti-Kremlin
politicians have criticised him for taking what they say has
been too low profile a role in the battle to contain and slow
the spread of the virus.
The Kremlin has rejected those assertions however, saying the
size of Russia, the world's largest country by territory, means
it makes sense to give regional leaders considerable leeway when
deciding which measures are the most appropriate.
Putin made his third television appearance dedicated to the
crisis on Wednesday, rolling out economic measures to help
businesses hit by the lockdown.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Tom
Balmforth; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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