Three patients with Covid-19 die in Russia as country registers 228 new cases, total now 1,264

Three people in Russia have died after being infected with coronavirus. The precise cause of death in some of the cases is being determined, but they could potentially bring the country's Covid-19 death toll to seven.

One case involved a 57-year-old man from the town of Buzuluk, in the south-western Orenburg region. The local authorities said that the victim had caught the virus after traveling around Europe by car.

He was hospitalized, along with six family members, after it was discovered that he’d contracted Covid-19. The autopsy confirmed the coronavirus infection and bilateral viral pneumonia, with the late patient also suffering from chronic diseases like diabetes and bronchitis.

Hours later, St. Petersburg disclosed that it had registered its first fatality, involving a coronavirus patient, who just recently arrived in the city. Governor Alexander Beglov said that an autopsy was being performed to determine the precise cause of death.

Then another death was reported in Moscow, which has the most coronavirus cases in Russia – 817. A 65-year-old epidemiologist succumbed to the disease in one of the capital’s hospitals. The woman was a university professor and did not work with Covid-19 patients. She’d arrived to the hospital with bilateral pneumonia and was placed in intensive care, but couldn’t be saved due to several pre-existing conditions.

Russia registered its fourth coronavirus-related fatality on Friday, after a 56-year-old cancer survivor with one lung succumbed to illness in the capital.

Officials announced 228 new infections on Saturday, bringing the country's total to 1,264.

The Russian government has ordered a shutdown of all restaurants, cafes, and shops – except essential businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies – across the country between March 28 and April 5.

Cases worldwide have reached more than 615,500, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University, with deaths totaling more than 28,700.

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