MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia recorded nearly 425,000 excess deaths from April 2020 to April 2021 when it was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters calculations based on data released by Russia’s state statistics service showed on Friday.
The number of excess deaths, which some epidemiologists say is the best way to measure the real death toll from COVID-19, exceeds the official COVID-19 death toll of 123,037 which is calculated by Russia’s coronavirus task force.
Rosstat, the Russian state statistics service, keeps its own records and said on Friday that around 270,000 people had died in Russia from COVID-19 and related causes since the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 to April 2021.
In April this year, 20,323 people died from COVID-19 and related causes in Russia, which is 11.6% higher than the same period last year, the statistics service said.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, writing by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
