The Russian government acknowledged on Monday that 186,000 deaths this year were due to the COVID-19 disease, raising the death toll higher than the official figures and raising Russia even higher in the macabre world rankings.
According to the ANA-MPA, the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (ROSSTAT) reported that the excess mortality from January to November amounted to 229,700 people, that is, there was an increase of 13.8% compared to the same period last year.
And “more than 81%” of the increase in mortality during that period “was due to COVID-19 and the disease-related complications,” in other words just over 186,000 deaths, said Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government in charge of health issues, as reported by Russian news agencies
This number means that Russia ranks third in the world with regard to the number of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after the USA (over 333,000 deaths) and Brazil (over 191,000).
The death toll is more than three times the 55,265 deaths officially reported on the Russian government website.
However, only deaths which are associated with COVID-19 by autopsy are included in the report. Based on this number, the Russian government boasted that it had dealt with the pandemic provocation in a much more effective way by many Western countries.
However, according to ROSSTAT, in November, 25,788 people died after being infected with SARS-CoV-2.
It is the first time that the Russian statistics service has given a report on a monthly basis without, however, publishing data for previous months.
Russia, like the rest of the world, is being hit by the second wave of the pandemic since the autumn. Russian authorities, however, reject the idea of imposing a second lockdown, after the one that had been imposed in spring, to protect the economy while assuring that the level of preparedness is high and advertising the effectiveness of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V.