Russia recorded the highest-ever number of single-day coronavirus deaths with 820 fatalities, health authorities said on Thursday, taking the country’s death toll to 179,243.

Some 19,630 people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, pushing the country's caseload to 6.82 million and active cases to 552,479, Russia's coronavirus emergency task force said in a daily report.

Recoveries increased by 19,661 since Wednesday to reach 6.09 million.

Although Russia has a wide range of vaccines, only 23.82% of the country’s population got a jab against COVID-19.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 4.46 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with over 213.9 million cases reported, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University./agencies