By Tsarizm Staff | March 26, 2020

As Russia’s testing procedures improve, the number of Chinese coronavirus cases in-country is increasing rapidly, shattering the image that Russia is immune from the crisis.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Russia has grown by 182 over the past 24 hours and currently amounts to 840, coronavirus cases have been recorded in 56 regions, the anti-coronavirus task force told reporters on Thursday, reported Russian state news agency TASS.

“To date, 840 coronavirus infection cases have been recorded in 56 Russian regions. Nine people have been discharged [from hospitals] after recovering over the past 24 hours. As many as 38 people have been discharged over the entire period. Two coronavirus-related deaths have been registered in Moscow,” the task force said.

As many as 182 new cases have been confirmed in 18 regions, including Moscow (136), the Sverdlovsk Region (7), St. Petersburg (5), the Perm Region (5) and the Sakha (Yakutia) Region (4).

Russia’s officially reported numbers — which are still smaller than those in European countries — have sparked suspicion as they spiked in the past week. Experts warn that Russia’s testing capacity is hampered by bureaucracy, while officials warn that the real number of cases is likely much higher, reported The Moscow Times.

Most of the new cases, 136, are in Moscow. This week, Moscow changed the way it counts its coronavirus cases, with patients considered coronavirus-positive upon a single positive test rather than having samples sent to a lab Novosibirsk for further verification.

The Russian capital has not yet imposed the dramatic ‘shelter in place’ practice ordered by most Western governments.

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This piece originally appeared on Tsarizm.com and is used by permission.

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