Russia reports highest spike in daily virus death toll

Russia has reported the highest daily spike in coronavirus deaths on Friday, as health officials registered 150 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's toll to 3,249.

Russia's comparatively low mortality rate has raised eyebrows in the West, with some suggesting that the country's government may be underreporting virus-related deaths and manipulating the statistics.

Russian officials vehemently deny the allegations and attribute the low numbers to the effectiveness of the measures taken to curb the spread of the outbreak.

Russia's coronavirus caseload has exceeded 326,000 on Friday, with health officials reporting almost 9,000 new infections.

Earlier this month President Vladimir Putin announced gradually lifting lockdown restrictions, saying that Russia was able to slow down the epidemic and it was time for gradual reopening.

The vast majority of the country's regions have been on lockdown since March 30.