Russia has reported 1,106 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest figure since the start of the pandemic, amid a surge in new cases that has prompted authorities to reimpose partial lockdown measures.

According to Reuters, the daily toll has hit new records in six of the past eight days. The state Covid-19 task force has also reported 36,446 new infections, compared with 37,930 a day earlier.

Authorities have blamed the rising deaths and infections on slow vaccination rates.