MOSCOW, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia is testing vaccines against the novel coronavirus as the number of infected in the country rose by 54 to 253 in the last 24 hours, according to official data published Friday.

"Currently, six such drugs are being tested in Russia," Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting of the Presidium of the government's coordinating council to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to an official transcript.

"Our scientists created them in a very short time, in two months, using existing developments and the latest biotechnologies," Mishustin said.

He said he hoped that in the near future, the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines would be confirmed and they would be used to prevent and control the epidemic.

Russia registered 54 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours in nine regions, up from 52 a day before, Russia's consumer rights and human well-being watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement Friday.

All the patients, who have been isolated in hospitals for infectious diseases, had visited countries hit by the coronavirus in the last two weeks, it said.