MOSCOW -- Russia's record high coronavirus death toll persisted for a second straight day on Saturday, as the number of new infections declined.
The state coronavirus task force reported 1,254 covid-19 deaths, matching Friday's tally. It also reported 37,120 new confirmed cases.
The daily new infections in recent weeks appear to have a downward trend but still remain higher than during previous surges of the virus.
The latest surge in deaths comes amid low vaccination rates and lax public attitudes in Russia toward taking precautions. In total, Russia's coronavirus task force has reported nearly 9.3 million confirmed infections and 262,843 covid-19 deaths, by far the highest death toll in Europe.
Some experts believe the true figure is even higher. Reports by Russia's statistical service, Rosstat, that tally coronavirus-linked deaths retroactively reveal much higher mortality. They say 462,000 people with covid-19 died between April 2020 and September of this year.
Russian officials have said the task force only includes deaths for which covid-19 was the main cause and uses data from medical facilities. Rosstat uses wider criteria for counting virus-related deaths and takes its numbers from civil registry offices where registering a death is finalized.
The Iranian government also noted that the daily death toll numbers have been decreasing in recent months, something Iranian experts attribute to vaccination. The highest single daily death toll was on Aug. 24, with 709 fatalities.
Authorities have been warning that more surges of the virus are expected; the latest came in August, fueled by the contagious delta variant. Less than half the population in Iran follows measures such as wearing face masks and social distancing.
Coronavirus infections rates in the Czech Republic hit a record for the second time last week, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
It announced that the daily tally jumped to 22,936 on Friday, almost 500 more than the previous record set on Tuesday.
The country's infection rate has risen to 929 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.
In a worrying sign, 110 people died on Thursday, the ministry said, with the daily death toll surpassing 100 for the first time since April. Overall, the nation of 10.7 million has registered almost 2 million cases with 32,005 deaths.
About 40% of Russia's nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though the country approved a domestically developed covid-19 vaccine -- Sputnik V -- months before most of the world.
Iran announced Saturday it has now fully vaccinated 44 million people, more than half of its population of 85 million. The country has been hit the worst by the pandemic in the Middle East with at least 128,000 deaths recorded since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The health ministry said the 44 million received two doses of the vaccine. The ministry also announced that there have been more than 3,500 new cases of infections in the past 24 hours, as well as 118 deaths.
Iran generally uses the China-made Sinopharm vaccine, though Sputnik V and the vaccine made by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca are also in use.
According to the Health Ministry in Vietnam, all staff members working in service facilities and 99% of Phu Quoc's adult residents have been fully vaccinated for covid-19. The island is planning to vaccinate children aged 12 to 17 next month.
More than 200 foreign tourists arrived on Vietnam's largest Phu Quoc island on Saturday, the first to visit the Southeast Asian country after nearly two years of border closure due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The fully vaccinated travelers from South Korea will spend their holidays in hotel resorts without a mandatory 14-day quarantine. They were tested on arrival, and once the negative results are returned, they can join activities on the island including sightseeing, shopping and entertainment events that require vaccine certificates.
"The program is among the country's efforts to revive its tourism industry while reopening and developing the economy step by step under a new normal context," said Nguyen Trung Khanh, chairman of Vietnam's Administration of Tourism who welcomed the charter flight on the airport tarmac.
Vietnam closed its border in March 2020, shortly after confirming its first covid-19 case.
Since then, it only allowed only several international flights a week with foreign experts, diplomats and returning Vietnamese nationals. Those international arrivals must undergo a 14-day quarantine in designated hotels or government-run facilities.
Due to the positive trends, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday lifted nighttime traffic restrictions on private cars, which were previously banned from the streets from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The Czech Republic government has approved new restrictions to tackle the country's surge, targeting the unvaccinated in an effort to increase a vaccination rate that is below the European Union average.
Starting Monday, most unvaccinated people will no longer be allowed to show negative coronavirus tests in order to attend public events, go to bars and restaurants, visit hairdressers, museums and similar facilities or use hotels.
Only people who are vaccinated or have recovered from covid-19 will remain eligible.