The Latest: Russia's daily virus death toll passes 1,000

MOSCOW — Russia’s daily death toll from COVID-19 has exceeded 1,000 for the first time as the country faces a sustained wave of rising infections.

The national coronavirus task force on Saturday reported 1,002 deaths in the previous day, up from 999 on Friday, along with 33,208 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, more than 1,000 higher than the day before.

Although the record for daily COVID-19 deaths in Russia has been repeatedly broken over the past few weeks, the Russian government is reluctant to toughen restrictions.

Authorities have tried to speed up the pace of vaccination with lotteries, bonuses and other incentives, but widespread vaccine skepticism and conflicting signals from officials stymied the efforts.

The government said this week that about 43 million Russians, or about 29% of the country’s nearly 146 million people, are fully vaccinated.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— US cities, police unions clash as vaccine mandates take effect

— Protests greet start of Italy requiring COVID passes at workplaces

— Officials set stage for national campaign to vaccinate younger US children

— FDA panel endorses booster shot for Johnson & Johnson vaccine

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See all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand health care workers administered a record number of vaccine jabs Saturday as the nation held a festival aimed at getting more people inoculated against the coronavirus.

Musicians, sports stars and celebrities pitched in for the “Vaxathon” event, which was broadcast on television and online for eight hours straight. By...