Coronavirus: Russia admits to world’s third-worst death toll, saying fatalities are three times higher than reported
- For months, Putin has boasted about his country’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it had done a better job than Western nations
- Between January and November, total deaths from all causes rose by 229,700 compared to previous year, with more than 80 per cent of that due to the coronavirus
Russia on Monday said its coronavirus death toll was more than three times higher than it had previously reported, making it the country with the third-largest number of fatalities.
For months President Vladimir Putin has boasted about Russia’s low fatality rate from the virus, saying earlier this month that it had done a “better” job at managing the pandemic than Western countries.
But since early in the pandemic, some Russian experts have said the government was playing down the country’s outbreak.
On Monday, Russian officials admitted that was true.
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The Rosstat statistics agency said that the number of deaths from all causes recorded between January and November had risen by 229,700 compared to the previous year.