Russian officials acknowledged on Monday that the death toll in the nation COVID-19 is in fact more than three times higher than previously reported, after months of president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin: Putin against Russian coronavirus vaccine George Blake, Cold War double agent, dies at 98 gun control hostage MORE maintaining the supposedly low mortality rate as a marker of the country’s success in fighting the pandemic.
With The Guardian reported, the state statistics agency Rosstat said the total number of deaths between January and November from all causes had increased by 229,700 compared to the previous year.
“More than 81 percent of this increase in mortality during this period is due to COVID,” said Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who would indicate a death toll of more than 186,000 Russians, The Guardian reported. The update means Russia has the third highest number of fatalities in the world, surpassed only by the United States and Brazil.
So far, Russian officials have confirmed more than 3 million cases and only 55,265 dead, The Guardian noted, a much lower number than other major countries affected.
The newspaper reported that despite increasing the number of coronaviruses, the Russian government is reluctant to order another national closure. In his year-end conference, Putin said, “If we follow the rules and requirements of health regulators, we will not need any blockade.”
According to reports, Moscow expects to contain the virus through its vaccination program launched this month. Russia was the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine. The Russian-made vaccine, called Sputnik V, showed promising results, but was criticized by medical journals for conducting short clinical trials.
In early December, Putin, 68, said he would delay vaccination due to a lack of research on people over 60. However, the vaccine was approved for people over 60 this past weekend, The Guardian reported.