Russia acknowledges that the death toll from COVID-19 is three times higher than previously reported

Russian officials on Monday acknowledged that the nation’s COVD-19 death toll was in fact three times higher than previously reported, months after the president’s death. Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin Putin dies in Cold War double agent George Blake’s 98 weapons control to get Russian coronavirus vaccine Holding low mortality rates considered a sign of the country’s success in fighting the epidemic.

As The Guardian ReportThe total number of deaths from all causes between January and November exceeded 229,700 compared to the previous year, the state-run statistics agency Rostett said.

“More than 1 percent of deaths during this period have been caused by covid,” The Guardian reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Tatina Golikova, who said the death toll was more than 1,000 Russians. The update means that Russia has the third highest casualty rate in the world, behind only the US and Brazil.

Russian officials have so far confirmed more than 30 million cases and confirmed the deaths of only 55,265 people, The Guardian notes, a number much lower than in other major affected countries.

The newspaper reports that despite the growing number of coronaviruses, the Russian government is reluctant to order another national lockdown. “If we follow the rules and demands of health regulators, we don’t need a lockdown,” Pushti said at his year-end conference.

Moscow hopes to contain the virus through its vaccination program launched this month. Russia was the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine. The Russian-made vaccine, called Sputnik V, showed promising results, but short clinical trials were conducted by a medical journal.

In early December, Putin, 68, said he would delay getting vaccinated because of a lack of research on people over 60. However, the Guardian reports that the vaccine was approved for more than 60 people last week.