Moscow, October 9 / BNA / Russia has set a new record in the number of daily deaths from Covid-19, in the continuation of the continuous rise that achieved new records almost daily in October, the Associated Press reported (Associated Press).
The National Coronavirus Task Force reported on Saturday that 968 people in Russia died of COVID-19 over the past day – about 100 more daily deaths than were recorded in late September. The task force said more than 29,000 new infections were confirmed in the past day.
Authorities blame the sharp rise on the country’s low vaccination rate. Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said Friday that 47.8 million Russians, or roughly 33% of Russia’s 146 million population, have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 42.4 million, or about 29%, have been fully vaccinated. .
The coronavirus task force has reported a total of about 7.8 million cases and 215,453 deaths in the pandemic.
However, the task force only records deaths directly caused by the virus. Reports from the Russian state statistics service Rosstat that count deaths related to the coronavirus revealed significantly higher death numbers.
Rosstat revealed Friday that the latest data showed more than 254,000 deaths of people infected with COVID-19 in the first eight months of this year compared to 163,000 deaths of patients infected with the coronavirus throughout 2020.
The Coronavirus Task Force only counts the deaths of patients for whom COVID-19 has been identified as the main cause. Rosstat includes people who contracted COVID-19 but died of other causes, and those who were suspected but not confirmed to have had the coronavirus.
The Kremlin has brushed off the idea of imposing a new nationwide lockdown, delegating the power to tighten restrictions to regional authorities. In some regions of the country, including Moscow and Saint Petersburg, life is still largely normal, with businesses operating as usual and states loosely enforced.
AOQ