Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that an increase in coronavirus cases to a daily high of 20,582 was alarming and that authorities would take action depending on how the situation developed.

“The trend is alarming, the pandemic is developing,” Peskov said. “The situation is being carefully monitored and analysed, and measures taken collectively... taking into account the specifics of a given region.” In recent months Russian authorities have said that harsh restrictions were not needed to contain the surge in COVID-19 cases, stressing that hygiene and safety precautions were key.

The Kremlin has said that targeted measures in certain regions were enough because Russia was better equipped to tackle the virus than earlier in the pandemic, when it imposed lockdowns nationwide.

With 1,733,440 infections, the country of about 145 million people has the world’s fourth largest number of cases behind the United States, India and Brazil.

Authorities also reported 378 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 29,887.