Russia's coronavirus infections near 450,000

FILE PHOTO: People walk at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNKh) on the first day of reopening following the easing of lockdown measures, which were introduced amid the outbreak of the?coronavirus?disease (COVID-19) in Moscow, Russia June 1, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Russia reported 8,726 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, pushing the total number of infections to 449,834.

Officials said 144 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official nationwide death toll to 5,528.

(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Anton Kolodyazhnyy; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Kevin Liffey)