Russian church leader isolates after coming into contact with person with coronavirus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Patriarch Kirill, the leader of Russia's Orthodox Church, said on Thursday he had gone into isolation after coming into contact with someone with the new coronavirus.

The 73-year-old said he was unable to join church prayers with his congregation because of medical guidelines requiring him to isolate. He did not mention having any symptoms in a statement on the church's website.

Russia reported 11,493 new coronavirus cases earlier on Thursday, just short of the most confirmed in a single day during the pandemic, pushing the overall total to 1,260,112.

(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Toby Chopra)