MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. The number of novel coronavirus cases in Russia has grown by 182 over the past 24 hours and currently amounts to 840, coronavirus cases have been recorded in 56 regions, the anti-coronavirus task force told reporters on Thursday.

"To date, 840 coronavirus infection cases have been recorded in 56 Russian regions. Nine people have been discharged [from hospitals] after recovering over the past 24 hours. As many as 38 people have been discharged over the entire period. Two coronavirus-related deaths have been registered in Moscow," the task force said.

As many as 182 new cases have been confirmed in 18 regions, including Moscow (136), the Sverdlovsk Region (7), St. Petersburg (5), the Perm Region (5) and the Sakha (Yakutia) Region (4).

The coronavirus outbreak was recorded in central China in late December 2019. More than 150 countries have been hit by this infection, which was labeled as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. According to the latest data, over 457,000 people have contracted the virus, and more than 21,000 have died.