Russia nears 100,000 daily infections as omicron rages

By DASHA LITVINOVA
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities on Friday reported over 98,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases, but the Kremlin says the actual number is likely to be much higher as the highly contagious omicron variant continues to rage through the vast country. Coronavirus infections in Russia started to soar nearly three weeks ago, with daily tallies of new cases spiking from about 15,000 on Jan. 10 to almost 100,000 on Friday. Russian authorities, however, have avoided imposing any major restrictions to stem the surge, saying the health system has been coping with the influx of patients. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday there was no point in imposing “excessive restrictions” and cited “the world’s experience.”