MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. Sixty-eight coronavirus-positive patients died in Moscow in the past day, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Thursday.

"Sixty-eight coronavirus-positive patients diagnosed with pneumonia have died in Moscow," it said.

The overall number of coronavirus-associated deaths in Moscow has reached 1,794.

According to the latest update, as many as 152,276 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Moscow, with 2,699 such cases reported in the past day. A total of 5,440 patients recovered during the day.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 4,990,400 people have been infected worldwide and more than 324,900 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,961,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, a total of 308,705 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 85,392 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 2,927 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.