Russian virus cases rise to daily record

The number of identified cases of the coronavirus in Russia has climbed by a new daily record of more than 11,200, pushing the total past 177,000, according to a federal monitoring service.

Russia currently has the world's fifth-largest reported coronavirus caseload, with senior officials hoping that lockdown quarantine measures imposed throughout most of the country will soon curb the number of new cases.

The hardest-hit Russian city has been the capital, Moscow, with nearly 100,000 identified cases. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has repeatedly said the actual number of cases could be much higher.

He estimated on Thursday that the number of cases in Moscow could amount to as many as three times more than reported, or nearly 300,000, state news agency TASS reported on Thursday.

Putting a positive spin on the news, Sobyanin said that "the fact that we have confirmed so many ill persons is not a minus, it's a great plus," as such assessments are utilised to better contain the outbreak.

As Russia's economy struggles with the pandemic and accompanying quarantine restrictions, senior officials have been seeking to create a plan for loosening some of the measures to reboot economic activities.

President Vladimir Putin welcomed such plans in a conference call with senior officials on Wednesday, but cautioned against lifting quarantine measures too quickly, as the country does not appear to have reached a peak in new daily cases.