Citing increases in cases of coronavirus in all Russian regions, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova called for stronger restrictive measures and speeding up of inoculations. "Last week the death rate linked to Covid increased by 21.3% compared to previous months," Golikova said, as the country records thousands of new cases and hundreds of deaths every day. "The situation has become explosive," said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who has taken a leading role in Russia's response to the pandemic. He said that more than 50,000 new infections had been recorded in the Russian capital, the epicentre of the country's outbreak, over the past two weeks, calling it a pandemic high.