Russian COVID-19 cases grow to 252,245

A medical worker takes care of a patient suffering from COVID-19 in an intensive care unit at the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology in Moscow, Russia, on May 14, 2020. Russia has confirmed 9,974 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total number of infections to 252,245, its coronavirus response center said in a statement Thursday. Global confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 4.4 million on Thursday, reaching 4,405,019 as of 12:32 p.m. (1632 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Global COVID-19 deaths surpassed 300,000 on Thursday, reaching 300,074 as of 12:32 p.m. (1632 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. (Sputnik via Xinhua)

MOSCOW, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Russia has confirmed 9,974 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total number of infections to 252,245, its coronavirus response center said in a statement Thursday.

The single-day increase has fallen below 10,000 for the first time over the past 12 days, the center's data showed.

The death toll climbed by 93 to 2,305, while 53,530 people have now recovered, including 5,527 over the last 24 hours, the statement said.

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, confirmed 4,712 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 130,716.

Russia's consumer rights and human well-being watchdog said in a statement Thursday that 259,198 people were under medical observation as of Wednesday.

More than 6.1 million lab tests for COVID-19 have been conducted across the country so far, it added.

The number of officially registered unemployed people in Russia reached 1.4 million, twice as many as in early April, President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week.

National paid leave, which lasted for six weeks to contain the spread of the pandemic, ended Tuesday for the whole country and all sectors of the economy.

Russian airlines will receive 23.4 billion rubles (317 million U.S. dollars) in compensation for losses amid the pandemic, the government announced Wednesday.

The Russian government is also considering paying more than 1.6 billion rubles as an incentive to medical workers involved in fighting COVID-19.