Published 12:42 IST, June 14th 2020
Russia's coronavirus deaths for April double after it changed classifying method
Russia changed the way to classify coronavirus deaths following which the numbers for the month of April doubled from its previous counting of over 1,100.
Russia on June 13 changed the way to classify coronavirus deaths following which the numbers for the month of April doubled from its previous counting of over 1,100. The death toll for April now stands at 2,712. Russian authorities have said that their new classification method is in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and its recommendations. According to reports, the figures for May are going to be much worse than in April. Russia's new statistics also included fatalities where people had tested positive for the virus but it was not the main cause behind the deaths and vice-versa.
COVID-19 in Russia
Russia on Saturday recorded more than 8,700 new infections taking the country's total tally to over 5,19,000, according to the figures by Johns Hopkins University. Russia is the third most affected country in the world when it comes to the total number of confirmed cases, it stands behind only after the United States and Brazil. However, when it comes to the fatality rate, Russia is doing way better than some of the other majorly affected countries like the US, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Russia has so far logged in 6,819 deaths.
The lower fatality rate in Russia has raised suspicion amongst political pundits, who feel that the former Soviet Union may be underreporting cases. The most affected region in Russia is the capital Moscow, where authorities last week eased some restrictions after two months of strict lockdown. According to the new method, more than 5,000 people have died in the month of May, a significant increase from the previous month. health authorities have also predicted that the numbers for this month is going to be much worse, at least till mid-June.
(Image Credit: AP)
Updated 12:42 IST, June 14th 2020