Russia recorded 2,712 coronavirus-related deaths in April, more than double the deaths previously recorded, according to statistics based on a new counting method and published on Saturday by the public agency Rosstat.
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Official figures so far indicate that 1,152 people died in Russia from the coronavirus in April. The Russian authorities had clarified that this assessment only took into account the cases where the coronavirus was established as the main cause of death. But the Russian Ministry of Health announced at the end of May that it would revise its counting methods following the recommendations of the World Health Organization, which is calling for accounting for ancillary causes or suspected cases.
Critics questioning official mortality
In his April death report, Rosstat clarified that the main cause of death is Covid-19 for 1,270 cases, and in 435 others, the virus had a "significant influence" in the death of the patient. For 390 deaths, the coronavirus is believed to be the main cause of death, but could not be identified, according to Rosstat. Finally, 617 other patients suffering from coronavirus in Russia died in April without the virus having had a "significant influence" in their death, according to Rosstat. Russia also recorded 8,706 new infections on Saturday, a number that has been growing steadily for more than three weeks, bringing the total to 520,129 cases.
Critics have questioned official mortality, accusing Moscow of knowingly underestimating it. Russia explained its lower figures, compared to Western countries, by the fact that it only counted first of all the deaths whose primary cause, after autopsy, is the coronavirus, when other countries count almost all of them. deaths of patients tested positive. The Russian authorities also maintain that the epidemic having arrived later in Russia, the country had time to prepare its hospitals and to develop a massive policy of detection.
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"The main shock will come in May"
According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, the publication of mortality in April was delayed by the delays in autopsies carried out in Russian regions. According to her, Rosstat's figures set the death rate among the coronavirus cases registered in April at 2.6%. "The main shock (in the rise in deaths) will occur in May and probably during the first part of June," added Tatiana Golikova on Saturday during a televised meeting.
The capital Moscow, badly affected, already recorded 15,713 deaths in May - an mortality unprecedented in 10 years - including 5,260 deaths related to the new coronavirus.