The Latest: Russia counts 29,900 new cases, a daily high

MOSCOW — Russian authorities reported 29,935 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily spike in the pandemic.

This is nearly 2,700 infections more than was registered the previous day. Russia’s total of over 2.9 million remains the fourth largest coronavirus caseload in the world. The government’s coronavirus task force has also registered more than 53,000 deaths in all.

Russia has been swept by a rapid resurgence of the outbreak this fall, with numbers of confirmed COVID-19 infections and deaths significantly exceeding those reported in the spring. The country’s authorities have resisted imposing a second nationwide lockdown or a widespread closure of businesses.

Earlier this month, mass vaccination against COVID-19 started in Russia with Sputnik V — a domestically developed coronavirus vaccine that is still undergoing advanced studies among tens of thousands of people needed to ensure its safety and effectiveness. Russia has been widely criticized for giving Sputnik V regulatory approval in August after it had only been tested on a few dozen people.

___

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Nurses fear what’s to come: ‘Walk down our unit for a day’

— Politicians and vaccines: Set an example or cut in line?

— Studies find having COVID-19 may protect against reinfection

— Russia’s Health Ministry has agreed to cut the size of a study of a domestically developed coronavirus vaccine and to stop the enrollment of volunteers.

— France is springing elderly residents from care homes for the holiday season. The aim is to alleviate some of the mental suffering of the coronavirus pandemic by letting care-home residents spend time with family members over Christmas and New Year's.

— Gridlock at an English port is keeping thousands of truckers and...