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Moscow residents face renewed coronavirus restrictions faced with the Delta variant's rapid spread AFP/Yuri KADOBNOV - 

Russia's capital Moscow on Saturday (Jun 19) reported a pandemic high for new coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day, as the city's hospitals are flooded with new patients due to the Delta variant.

The city registered 9,120 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours, according to government figures, a second consecutive high topping the previous day's total of 9,056 cases.

Those figures have ballooned from just 3,000 daily just two weeks ago, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin saying on Friday that the highly infectious Delta variant first identified in India represents nearly 90 per cent of new cases.

The new wave of infections come as Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg, the country's worst COVID-19 hotspot after Moscow, is slated to host seven Euro 2020 matches - including a quarter-final on Jul 2 - expected to draw thousands of European football fans.

Having claimed the worst of the pandemic had passed over winter, officials are now scurrying to reintroduce pandemic restrictions and roll out new beds dedicated to coronavirus patients after months of near-normal life.

On Monday, Saint Petersburg announced a tightening of restrictions including no food sales in its Euro 2020 fan zones.

Measures have been more drastic in Moscow, where Sobyanin on Friday shuttered the city's fan zone, banned gatherings of more than 1,000, suspended all mass entertainment events and closed dance halls.

He also extended several measures that he had announced last weekend, like the closure of food halls in malls, zoos and playgrounds, and of bars and restaurants from 11pm to 6am.

Sobyanin, who has taken a leading role in Russia's response to the pandemic, has said the measures are necessary because the capital's hospitals were inundated with COVID-19 patients within days.

Figures released by federal statistics agency Rosstat show that Russia had recorded at least 270,000 virus-related deaths by the end of April//CNA