Russia’s coronavirus cases continue to grow, as their health ministry said that they now have over 230,000 confirmed cases and suffered more than 2,000 deaths. Despite the spike in their country’s cases, Russia began easing their lockdown restrictions on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the country officially began the first phase of easing its nationwide lockdown. The country’s leader Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that certain regions could begin deciding how and when to lift the lockdown and stay-at-home restrictions in their areas. Similar to the United States and the rest of the world, due to the deadly Chinese coronavirus, small and non-essential businesses and workers across Russia were sent home. The country is planning to place regions under different levels of restrictions depending on their current situations. However, the areas where there are still high cases of the coronavirus are expected to stay in lockdown for a few more weeks.

The relaxed restrictions allow citizens to do some sports and walk outside. In some areas in the far east, several malls and shops will be allowed to go back to business, all the while still following proper social distancing and sanitizing protocols. Putin also announced the cancellation of all mass gatherings and the restrictions against people 65 and up from going outside.

Despite reports showing that Russia gets at least 10,000 daily coronavirus-related cases, Russian authorities have insisted that there are signs that the virus is under control and that its growth rate in their country has already slowed. The country’s health care system is under intense strain trying to accommodate thousands of patients daily, and health care workers are suffering.

Experts have also noted that Russia’s official death toll is questionably low, only 2,116 despite having hundreds of thousands of confirmed cases. A possible explanation came to light after Moscow’s city government published information that suggested some authorities may have been essentially undercounting deaths. Russian doctors and health workers have spoken out, saying that many coronavirus-related deaths are being recorded under other causes like heart attack and pneumonia.