U.S. sends aid to Russia where coronavirus cases are climbing

A U.S. military transport aircraft was expected to deliver a first batch of medical aid to Russia on Thursday, including 50 ventilators, to help Moscow cope with a rising number of novel coronavirus cases and deaths.

Russia’s case tally, the world’s second highest, rose to 317,554 on Thursday after 8,849 new infections were reported, while the death toll climbed past the 3,000 mark after 127 people died in the last 24 hours.

Only the United States has more confirmed cases of the novel infection. At 3,099, Russia’s toll is much lower than many European countries however, something that has sparked debate about the methods it uses to count fatalities.

Russia cites a huge testing programme, which it says has seen over 7.8 million people tested, as the reason for its large number of reported cases, and says many involve Russians without symptoms of the virus.