MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has recorded 20.5% more deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the country in April, data from the Rosstat state statistics service, tallied by Reuters, showed on Monday.
The total figure, at 241,193 more deaths in April-November 2020 than during the same period the previous year, is significantly higher than the preliminary pandemic death toll of 55,265 so far, reported on a cumulative daily basis by the government’s coronavirus crisis centre. This figure includes deaths recorded in December.
Though death tolls fluctuate year-to-year, tallies of what are referred to as excess deaths can illustrate the impact of the pandemic by including cases where the novel coronavirus was not a confirmed cause of death, as well as deaths from other causes that could be linked to the fact that national medical systems are over-stretched.
Rosstat data, tallied by Reuters, showed that less than half the total number of such excess deaths – at 116,030 since the start of the pandemic in Russia in April – can be attributed directly to the coronavirus.
This is still more than double the preliminary death toll figure reported on a daily, cumulative basis by the Russian government coronavirus crisis centre, which is overseen by the health ministry and the consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor. It stands at 55,265 so far, and includes deaths reported in December.
Rosstat shared new data on Monday about the total number of deaths reported in Russia in November.
The data showed the number of deaths was 55.6% higher compared to the same month last year, or 219,872 more deaths in total.
Of these, the statistics service said, 35,645 deaths were directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, the service reported the number of deaths in October, which indicated deaths were up 30.3% on the same month the previous year.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Andrey Ostroukh; Writing by Polina Ivanova; editing by Barbara Lewis)
