MOSCOW, Aug 21 ― Russia reported 797 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours today and 21,000 new cases, including 1,852 in the capital Moscow.

Russia has been hit by a surge in cases this summer that peaked in July and that authorities blamed on both the Delta variant and the slow uptake of vaccines produced domestically.

The country has vaccinated more than 43 million people so far against Covid-19 out of a population of more than 144 million, the RIA news agency reported yesterday, citing the health ministry. ― Reuters