Coronavirus Behind Most Excess Deaths in Russia This Year, Not Small Share Moscow had Claimed, Government Review Finds

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 2 – On the advice of the WHO, Russian officials have reexamined deaths this year and now say the coronavirus was responsible for more than 80 percent of increased mortality, for a figure 2.5 times greater than they had reported earlier (mosgorzdrav.ru/ru-RU/news/default/card/4048.html and novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/06/02/85658-diplomaticheskiy-proschet).

            Russian official figures should therefore be adjusted upwards by that amount; but even if they are, the actual number of deaths from the pandemic may still be greater than Russian officials are now reporting. Nonetheless, this WHO-driven change does mean that the figures Moscow is putting out now are closer to being accurate than any earlier ones.

            Today, officials reported 8863 new cases of the infection, bringing the total to 423,741.  There were also 182 more deaths from the coronavirus today in Russia, bringing that total to 5037.  Officials say that 234,146 of those infected are still undergoing medical treatment (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5ED607F42A972).

            Russia is undergoing the difficult and inconsistent process of reopening key institutions. The Moscow patriarchate has declared that religious services in Moscow will resume on June 6, although in some bishoprics elsewhere services either were never cancelled or are still suspended (stoletie.ru/lenta/v_moskve_k_koncu_nedeli_otkrojut_vse_pravoslavnyje_khramy_578.htm).

            Chechnya has opened its mosques for prayers, but believers in Daghestan and Ingushetia are against doing the same thing in their republics because the continuing danger from the pandemic (nazaccent.ru/content/33285-v-chechne-vozobnovyat-pyatnichnye-molitvy-s.html and kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/350370/).

            In some regions, nothing has to be re-opened because nothing was shut down (apostrophe.ua/article/society/2020-06-02/ne-govoryat-vsey-pravdyi-kak-prohodit-karantin-v-rossiyskoy-glubinke/33099); but in many, not only stores but hospitals for the treatment of diseases other than coronavirus are gradually resuming operations (sovsekretno.ru/articles/vam-davno-pora-na-kladbishche/).

            One of the sectors that has not yet reopened significantly is air traffic. International flights from Russia are expected to be resumed only mid-summer, spreading first to CIS countries, then Georgia and then further afield. Domestic flights remain mostly cancelled (mbk-news.appspot.com/suzhet/polety-vnutri-strany/).

            In April, Russian airlines carried 91.8 percent fewer passengers than during the same month in 2019, and prices shot up as the carriers sought to cover their costs at least in part.  But only 31 percent of available seats were filled, down from about 80 percent a year earlier.  A major problem is that many Russian airports don’t yet have the necessary health security measures in place.  Officials don’t expect full recovery until sometime in 2021.

            Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has presented a five trillion ruble (74 billion US dollar) plan to Putin to restore the economy to a growth rate of 2.5 percent by next year, a rate that may be possible because of the much lower base from which it will be calculated, and cutting unemployment to below five percent (iarex.ru/news/75514.html).

            Meanwhile, Russian health officials announced that the first trials of possible coronavirus vaccines will involve 50 soldiers, including give women, who reportedly have volunteered as test subjects (dw.com/ru/в-россии-вакцину-против-sars-cov-2-будут-испытывать-на-военнослужащих/a-53654032).