Every tenth have contracted the virus in Murmansk region, death toll nearing 2,000

143 new cases of Covid-19 were added to the statistics on September 13, bringing the total number up to 70,037, regional health authorities inform. With about 700,000 inhabitants, this means that 10 percent of the population on the Kola Peninsula now have been infected, news online Severpost reports. 

About one-third of the new cases are in the city of Murmansk, but also the Pechenga region, Kandalaksha and Monchegorsk are challenged with high infection rates.

The official death toll since the start of the pandemic is 1,941, including nine more deaths added on Monday.

Russia’s total coronavirus cases surpassed the seven million mark last week and are now 7,158,248. The official health authorities’ number of registered deaths is 193,468.

While the number of new infections has decreased steadily since mid-July, the death toll has remained stable at above 700 per day in the same period.

The Moscow Times reports the total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic to be around 596,000.