MOSCOW (AP) – Russia reported a record death toll from the coronavirus for the third day in a row on Friday.
According to the state agency for the control of the pandemic, in the last 24 hours there were 1,254 deaths from COVID-19, compared to 1,251 on Thursday and 1,247 on Wednesday.
The authorities also confirmed 37,156 new infections. In recent weeks, the data for new daily cases seems to follow a downward trend in recent weeks, but it is still higher than in previous waves of the pandemic.
The latest spike in infections and deaths coincides with a low vaccination rate and a more lax public attitude towards compliance with precautions. Less than 40% of the nearly 146 million inhabitants of the country have the complete vaccination schedule despite the fact that Russia approved a nationally developed vaccine, Spunitk V, months before the rest of the world.
In total, the agency has reported more than 9.2 confirmed infections and more than 261,000 deaths from COVID-19, making Russia the country with the highest mortality in Europe.
Some experts believe that the true figure is even higher. Reports from the national statistical agency, Rosstat, which counts deaths attributed to the coronavirus retroactively, reveal a much higher mortality. According to these data, 462,000 people with COVID-19 lost their lives between April 2020 and September this year.
Russian authorities maintain that the data from the control agency only includes deaths in which COVID-19 was the main cause, and that it uses data from health institutions.
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