COVID-19 death toll in Russia may be higher by 72%, Financial Times claims

The COVID-19 death toll in Russia may be higher by 72%, Financial Times reported.

The Russian authorities can significantly underestimate the COVID-19 death toll, it noted.

According to official statistics, 629 COVID-19 people died in Moscow and St. Petersburg in April. But at the same time, the total mortality rate in these two cities exceeded the average level by 2,073 people over the past five years. Thus, 1,444 deaths remained unaccounted for unknown reasons.

According to the headquarters on May 12, the total number of Russians who died from COVID-19 is 2,116.

Adding unaccounted cases, the death toll is 72% higher than noted in the official data.

Earlier, the New York Times published an analysis of the COVID-19 mortality rate in different countries, according to which at least 64,000 deaths were not taken into account for various reasons.

According to the publication, the difference between the COVID-19 mortality rate is about the specifics of accounting. So, most countries listed only COVID-19 deaths reported in the hospital, without counting people who die at home.

This difference in numbers is especially noticeable in countries that are in no hurry to recognize the importance of the disaster.

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