MOSCOW (AP) — The daily count of new coronavirus infections in Russia spiked above 110,000 on Saturday as the highly contagious omicron variant races through the vast country.

The state coronavirus task force reported 113,122 new infections over the past 24 hours — an all-time high and a sevenfold increase from early in the month, when daily case counts were about 15,000. The task force said 668 people died of COVID-19 in the past day, bring Russia's total fatality count for the pandemic to 330,111, by far the deadliest toll in Europe.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that “it is obvious that this number is higher and possibly much higher,” because “many people don’t get tested” or have no symptoms.

The Kremlin spokesman also admitted that a lot of people in the presidential administration have gotten infected with the virus. “The vast majority continue to work from home after having isolated themselves,” Peskov said. “This explosive contagiousness of the omicron, it demonstrates itself in full.”

Despite the surging infections, authorities have avoided imposing any major restrictions to stem the surge, saying the health system has been coping with the influx of patients.

Earlier this month, parliament indefinitely postponed introducing restrictions on the unvaccinated that would have proven unpopular among vaccine-hesitant Russians. And this week health officials cut the required isolation period for those who came in contact with COVID-19 patients from 14 days to seven without offering any explanation for the move.

Russia has had only one national lockdown, in 2020, although many Russians were ordered to stay off work for a week last October amid a jump in reported cases and deaths.

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VIENNA (AP) — Austria plans to loosen coronavirus restrictions in February after the country’s national vaccine mandate, the first of its kind in Europe, takes effect on Tuesday.

Starting Feb. 5, restaurants will be allowed to remain open until midnight, as opposed to 10 p.m., Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at a Saturday news conference.

In addition, rules effectively barring unvaccinated people from stores and restaurants will be phased out. Starting Feb. 12, proof of vaccination or recovery will no longer be required to enter shops. A week later, on Feb. 19, entry into restaurants will be allowed for all who can prove vaccination, recovery or a negative coronavirus test.

Nehammer also said last week that lockdown restrictions for vaccinated people, which have been in place since November, will end on Monday.

The announcement Saturday comes in spite of record-high new infection numbers in recent days, fuelled by the omicron variant. On Friday, Austria reported 34,748 new cases. As of Thursday, the Alpine nation's 7-day rate of infections stood at 2,381.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, about 10 times as high as the rate at the start of January.

Still, Nehammer said the low rate of patients now hospitalized for the virus means additional steps toward normalcy are possible. Officials in Austria expect the omicron wave to peak in the first week of February.

Austria has seen over 14,000 virus deaths in the pandemic.

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OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered in Canada’s capital on Saturday to protest vaccine mandates, masks and lockdowns.

Some parked on the grounds of the National War Memorial and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, others carried signs and flags with swastikas and some used the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox to display an anti-vaccine statement, sparking widespread condemnation.

“I am sickened to see protesters dance on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and desecrate the National War Memorial. Generations of Canadians have fought and died for our rights, including free speech, but not this. Those involved should hang their heads in shame,” tweeted Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada's Defense Staff chief.

Protestors compared vaccine mandates to fascism, one truck carried a Confederate flag and many carried expletive-laden signs targeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The statue of Fox, a national hero who lost a leg to bone cancer as a youngster, then set off in 1980 on a fundraising trek across Canada, was draped with a upside down Canadian flag with a sign that said “mandate freedom.”

Trudeau retweeted a statement from The Terry Fox Foundation that said “Terry believed in science and gave his life to help others.”

Eric Simmons, from Oshawa, Ontario, said all vaccine mandates should be ended.

“They’re not effective, they’re not working. It’s not changing anything. We can’t keep living like this. People are losing their jobs because they don’t want to get the vaccine,” Simmons said.

The convoy of truckers and others prompted police to prepare for the possibility of violence and warn residents to avoid downtown. A top Parliament security official advised lawmakers to lock their doors amid reports their private homes may be targeted.

Trudeau has said Canadians are not represented by this “very troubling, small but very vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government, at society, at mandates and public health advice.″

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia is bracing for a third wave of COVID-19 infections as the highly transmissible omicron variant drives a surge in new cases, health authorities and experts said Saturday.

The country reported 11,588 new confirmed infections and 17 deaths on Saturday in the last 24-hour period. It was the highest daily caseload since August when Indonesia was struggling to contain a delta-driven wave.

Indonesia had recovered from last year's spike that was among the worst in the region, and daily infections had fallen to about 200 by December. But cases are rising again just weeks after the country reported its first local omicron transmission.

“The upsurge will be extremely fast. ... We will see a sharp rise in the near future,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a news conference Friday, adding that the current wave would likely peak at the end of February or in early March.

He said the government dedicated more beds for COVID-19 patients, ramped up tracing and testing and intensified vaccinations in all regions. But some health experts doubt the measures will be enough given the lax enforcement.

Bed occupancy rates in the capital, Jakarta, the epicenter of the omicron outbreak, rose from 5% in early January to 45% on Saturday, said Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria. He said “omicron is moving too quickly" in the city, where more than 80% of the 10 million residents have been vaccinated.