Russia hits another virus death record as infections soar
ABC News
Russia has recorded another record of daily coronavirus deaths even as authorities hope to stem contagion by keeping most people off work
MOSCOW -- Russia on Friday recorded another daily record of coronavirus deaths as authorities hoped to stem the contagion by keeping most people off work.
The government’s coronavirus task force reported 1,163 deaths in 24 hours, the largest daily number since the pandemic began. That brought Russia's official total to 236,220 deaths, by far the highest in Europe.
The task force counts only deaths directly caused by the virus. The state statistics service Rosstat, which counts COVID-19 deaths by wider criteria, released figures Friday indicating a much higher toll.
Rosstat counted 44.265 deaths in September caused directly by the virus, or in which it was a contributing cause or of patients believed to have been infected. That would bring Russia's pandemic-long death toll to about 461,000 as of the end of September, nearly twice the task force's count.
