Putin says coronavirus situation in Russia stabilised

President Vlimir Putin said Friday coronavirus outbreak in Russia has begun to abate, creating a positive environment for easing restrictions, as officials defended country's data on deaths against claims y were being under-reported.

Speaking during a video conference with top officials, Putin pointed at decreasing number of new infections in Moscow and or regions. “ positive dynamic is t so fast as we would like it to be, sometimes even unstable, but it does exist,” he said.

Russia currently ranks second after United States in number of infections with 326,448 cases, including 3,249 deaths.

Russian leer said a stey drop in new cases sets st for furr lifting of restrictions, but he also emphasized need to preserve hospital capacity in case of a new wave of contagion.

Officials have reported to Putin that influx of COVID-19 patients, particularly those in grave condition, has fallen. Putin ted that country's hospitals are capable of accommodating over 165,000 coronavirus patients, and y are currently two-thirds occupied.

COVID-19 mortality rate in Russia has remained remarkably low at about 1%, drawing suspicions in West that country was under-reporting its death toll. Russian officials have rejected claim, saying that low toll reflected efficient preventative measures and bro testing.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said during call with Putin that country's approach to counting COVID-19 deaths is in line with World Health Organization's guidelines and more precise than in or countries.

She forecast that death toll will markedly rise in May, reflecting high numbers of infections in recent weeks.

“May will see a serious increase of mortality, judging by operative figures for past three weeks,” Golikova reported to Putin.

Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of Moscow, which accounted for about half of all infections, also predicted a surge in May deaths.

“It's quite obvious that number of deaths in May will be significantly higher than in April,” he told Putin. “We were at peak of contagion in April and early May.” Moscow's health department reported that 639 people died of COVID-19 in April, saying autopsies proved that deaths of 60 percent of all those who died after being infected with virus were caused by or grave underlying illnesses.

Some experts have questioned Russian refusal to include all deaths of those who tested positive in coronavirus toll, suggesting a politically-driven desire to downplay mortality. Russian officials have rejected claim, saying that Russian approach is more accurate and is in full conformity with World Health Organization's guidelines.

While daily number of new coronavirus cases in Moscow has dropped from a peak of about 6,700 to under 3,000 w, or hot spots emerged across Russia. y included Dstan, a mostly Muslim province in rth Caucasus mountains, whose health care system has crumbled under flow of COVID-19 patients.

In neighboring province of Chechnya, strongman regional leer Ramzan Kyrov has berated local doctors for complaining about shorts of equipment and protective gear.

On Thursday, Russia's state news ncies reported that Kyrov has been hospitalized in Moscow after suspectedly contracting disease. Kyrov's office hasn't responded to an AP request for comment.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov and three Cabinet ministers have been among officials who tested positive for coronavirus. Mishustin and Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova have convalesced.

On May 11, Putin ordered an end to nationwide partial ecomic shutdown he imposed in late March and instructed regional goverrs to reopen industrial enterprises and or businesses wherever it's possible. epidemic has bly hurt Russia's ecomy, alrey weakened by a drop in global oil prices and Western sanctions, and businessmen have widely deplored state support measures amid outbreak as bitterly insufficient.

epidemic has eroded support for Putin, that dropped to 59% in April, lowest point in more than two deces of his rule, according to independent Leva Center polling firm.