Russia to tap military for 'decisive battle'

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the coronavirus situation is getting worse and that the country may draw on the defense ministry's resources to tackle the crisis if needed.

Putin said the situation is constantly changing and that the next few weeks would prove decisive in Russia's battle to halt the contagion.

Russia yesterday reported 2,774 new cases - a record daily rise - bringing its overall nationwide tally to 21,102, the country's coronavirus response center said.

It said 170 people in Russia diagnosed with the virus have now died, an overnight rise of 22.

Authorities warned that the capital Moscow may run out of hospital beds to treat a influx of patients in the next two to three weeks despite frantic efforts to get more beds in place.

Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, has rushed to reconfigure hospitals to treat patients of the new virus and made thousands of new beds available.

But officials said that may not be enough.

"The operational headquarters predicts that despite the inclusion of an increasing number of state, federal and commercial clinics, a shortage of beds in redeveloped hospitals is possible in the next two to three weeks," the city's health department said.

It said it had decided to reconfigure 24 more hospitals, given the situation, and planned to have a total of 21,000 beds available within the next 10 days.

"Along with the rise in the number of patients with serious symptoms, the burden on the capital's health care has increased dramatically," Moscow's deputy mayor Anastasia Rakova said. "Our hospitals and ambulance services are now operating at their limit."

Putin said late last month that Russia would embark on a special nonworking period to try to curb the spread of the virus and people should work from home if they could. The move, which forced most businesses to shut except those deemed essential, has stopped many firms from working and squeezed profits as most consumers sit out the coronavirus at home.

Florists are among many businesses fighting for survival.

In a country where flowers are so popular that some florists used to operate 24 hours a day, rose growers are destroying more than a million flowers a day amid a sales slump.