Medical workers carry a body to a van outside a COVID-19 hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia's state coronavirus task force has reported more than 11.3 million confirmed cases and over 328 thousands deaths, by far the largest death toll in Europe. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
The Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's daily count of new coronavirus infections surged to more than 121,000 on Sunday, an eightfold increase compared with the beginning of the month as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads through the country.
The state coronavirus task force reported 121,288 new infections over the past 24 hours - an all-time high and 8,000 more than a day earlier. The country's infection numbers have rocketed since early January, when only about 15,000 new cases per day were tallied.
The task force said 668 people died of COVID-19 in the past day, bring Russia's total fatality count for the pandemic to 330,728, by far the largest in Europe.
Despite the surging infections, authorities have avoided imposing any major restrictions to stem the surge, saying the health system has been coping with the influx of patients.
Earlier this month, parliament indefinitely postponed introducing restrictions on the unvaccinated that would have proven unpopular among vaccine-hesitant Russians. And this week health officials cut the required isolation period for those who came in contact with COVID-19 patients from 14 days to seven without offering any explanation for the move.
Russia has had only one national lockdown, in 2020, although many Russians were ordered to stay off work for a week last October amid a jump in reported cases and deaths.
Russia's state statistics agency, which uses broader counting criteria than the task force, puts the country's pandemic death toll much higher, saying the number of virus-linked deaths between April 2020 and October 2021 was over 625,000.
Just about half of Russia's 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though Russia boasted about being the first country in the world to approve and roll out a domestically developed coronavirus vaccine.
___
Follow all of AP's pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
Medical workers loads a body into a van, at a COVID-19 hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia's state coronavirus task force has reported more than 11.3 million confirmed cases and over 328 thousands deaths, by far the largest death toll in Europe. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
The Associated Press
An ambulance moves towards a COVID-19 hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia's state coronavirus task force has reported more than 11.3 million confirmed cases and over 328 thousands deaths, by far the largest death toll in Europe. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
The Associated Press
A medical worker wearing protective gear walks outside a COVID-19 hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia's state coronavirus task force has reported more than 11.3 million confirmed cases and over 328 thousands deaths, by far the largest death toll in Europe. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
The Associated Press
Medical staff members transfer a patient with COVID-19 at an ICU of a hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A medical staff member prepares to treat a patient with COVID-19 at an ICU of a hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A medical staff member reads a paper as he prepares to treat a patient with COVID-19 at an ICU of an hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A teenager receives a dose of Russia's Sputnik M (Gam-COVID-Vac-M) COVID-19 vaccine in Krasnodar, Russia, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. This week, Russia started vaccinating children aged 12-17 with a domestically developed shot, Spuntik M - a version of the Sputnik V vaccine that contains a smaller dose - amid reports of a sharp spike of COVID-19 infections and hospitalization in children. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A teenager receives a dose of Russia's Sputnik M (Gam-COVID-Vac-M) COVID-19 vaccine in Krasnodar, Russia, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. This week, Russia started vaccinating children aged 12-17 with a domestically developed shot, Spuntik M - a version of the Sputnik V vaccine that contains a smaller dose - amid reports of a sharp spike of COVID-19 infections and hospitalization in children. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
Medical workers carry a patient suspected of having coronavirus on a stretcher at a hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. The daily count of new coronavirus infections in Russia spiked well above 100,000 on Saturday as the highly contagious omicron variant continues to spread through the vast country. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr)
The Associated Press
A medical staff member treats a patient with COVID-19 at an ICU of an hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
Medical staff members transfer a patient with COVID-19 into a Magnetic resonance imaging system at an ICU of an hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A patient with COVID-19 lies in a bed at an ICU of an hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A medical staff member tends to a patient with COVID-19 at an ICU of an hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A medical staff member stands next to a patient with COVID-19 at an ICU of an hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press
A medical staff member leans on a door while a patient with COVID-19 gets through a Magnetic resonance imaging system at an ICU of an hospital in Krasnodar, southern Russia, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Russia has confirmed 11,404,617 cases of coronavirus and 328,770 deaths, according to the national coronavirus information center. Russia's total excess fatality count since the start of the coronavirus pandemic is at least 929,000. Under half the population is fully vaccinated. (AP Photo/Vitaliy Timkiv)
The Associated Press