Coronavirus: The Russian republic enduring a 'catastrophe'

Dr Ibragim Yevtemirov still coughs every so often as he talks. A paediatric trauma surgeon in Dagestan, in the Caucasus region of southern Russia, his ward had been full of Covid-19 cases for a couple of weeks when he got infected himself. He says seven colleagues in his town have now died, including nurses, orderlies and laboratory staff, according to a count kept by local medics themselves. 'All three doctors on my team got sick. We were replaced by dentists until we recovered,' Dr Yevtemirov told the BBC by phone from Khasavyurt, where he's now back at work in the central hospital. 'At the peak, there were 10, 11 patients dying a day here,' he says.