<p>New variants of Covid-19 are suspected of causing a sudden jump in the number of cases in the Russian capital, the mayor said Thursday, amid a sluggish vaccination drive.</p>.<p>"It's most likely we are facing new, more aggressive variants which spread more quickly," said mayor Sergei Sobyanin during a video conference with government officials battling the pandemic.</p>.<p>He noted that daily infections in the capital had soared from 3,000 to 7,000 within a few days and were expected to hit more than 9,000 on Friday.</p>.<p>"It's tripling, there's an enormous dynamic that we have not seen during the previous waves," Sobyanin added.</p>.<p>The mayor had on Wednesday ordered mandatory vaccinations for Moscow residents working in the service industry, citing a "dramatic" rise in coronavirus infections.</p>.<p>Some 60 percent of all service industry workers in Moscow -- just over two million people -- were ordered to be fully vaccinated by August 15, including taxi drivers, staff at cultural venues and restaurant workers.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/sputnik-v-to-offer-booster-shot-against-delta-variant-998522.html" target="_blank">Sputnik V to offer booster shot against Delta variant</a></strong></p>.<p>Sobyanin on Saturday announced this week was a "non-working" week in the capital to try to control the virus.</p>.<p>Moscow health officials have in recent weeks reported a steady rise in the number of new infections, mirroring a trend across Russia.</p>.<p>Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told the video conference the number of cases across Russia had climbed an average of 30 percent in recent weeks and people aged 30-40 were particularly affected.</p>.<p>"The proportion of the Indian (Delta) variant has clearly progressed over the last two weeks," added Anna Popova, head of the health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.</p>.<p>The increase in cases comes as authorities struggle to encourage Russians to get vaccinated, even though the country launched a mass campaign of free jabs in December.</p>.<p>Sobyanin, whose city of some 12 million is the epicentre of the outbreak in Russia, said just 1.8 million residents had been inoculated.</p>.<p>Since December only 19 million out of a national population of 146 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Gogov website which tallies Covid figures from the regions and the media in the absence of a national statistics office.</p>.<p>Russia overtook Britain on Thursday as the European country to record the most Covid deaths with 127,992.</p>.<p>However the Rosstat statistics agency, which uses a broader clinical definition of fatalities linked to Covid-19, says at least 270,000 Russians have died from coronavirus.</p>
<p>New variants of Covid-19 are suspected of causing a sudden jump in the number of cases in the Russian capital, the mayor said Thursday, amid a sluggish vaccination drive.</p>.<p>"It's most likely we are facing new, more aggressive variants which spread more quickly," said mayor Sergei Sobyanin during a video conference with government officials battling the pandemic.</p>.<p>He noted that daily infections in the capital had soared from 3,000 to 7,000 within a few days and were expected to hit more than 9,000 on Friday.</p>.<p>"It's tripling, there's an enormous dynamic that we have not seen during the previous waves," Sobyanin added.</p>.<p>The mayor had on Wednesday ordered mandatory vaccinations for Moscow residents working in the service industry, citing a "dramatic" rise in coronavirus infections.</p>.<p>Some 60 percent of all service industry workers in Moscow -- just over two million people -- were ordered to be fully vaccinated by August 15, including taxi drivers, staff at cultural venues and restaurant workers.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/sputnik-v-to-offer-booster-shot-against-delta-variant-998522.html" target="_blank">Sputnik V to offer booster shot against Delta variant</a></strong></p>.<p>Sobyanin on Saturday announced this week was a "non-working" week in the capital to try to control the virus.</p>.<p>Moscow health officials have in recent weeks reported a steady rise in the number of new infections, mirroring a trend across Russia.</p>.<p>Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told the video conference the number of cases across Russia had climbed an average of 30 percent in recent weeks and people aged 30-40 were particularly affected.</p>.<p>"The proportion of the Indian (Delta) variant has clearly progressed over the last two weeks," added Anna Popova, head of the health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.</p>.<p>The increase in cases comes as authorities struggle to encourage Russians to get vaccinated, even though the country launched a mass campaign of free jabs in December.</p>.<p>Sobyanin, whose city of some 12 million is the epicentre of the outbreak in Russia, said just 1.8 million residents had been inoculated.</p>.<p>Since December only 19 million out of a national population of 146 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Gogov website which tallies Covid figures from the regions and the media in the absence of a national statistics office.</p>.<p>Russia overtook Britain on Thursday as the European country to record the most Covid deaths with 127,992.</p>.<p>However the Rosstat statistics agency, which uses a broader clinical definition of fatalities linked to Covid-19, says at least 270,000 Russians have died from coronavirus.</p>