MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2020) The discrepancy between the mortality figures published by Russia's coronavirus response center and statistical watchdog Rosstat are due to the different methods used by both organizations to calculate the figure, response center officials said on Friday.
"The response center [mortality] statistics only take into account instances when COVID-19 is the main cause of death (there are 5,448 cases according to Rosstat statistics) and differences appear due to the different methods of collecting information," the response center said in a statement.
According to Rosstat, COVID-19 was the main cause of death for 5,448 people in Russia in June, and the disease is also believed to have had a role in the deaths of 1,589 others. Russia's coronavirus response center registered 4,627 deaths in June.
Since the start of the outbreak, the response center has confirmed 14,725 deaths. The country's case total stands at 877,135 after 5,241 new positive tests were registered over the past 24 hours.
Other countries have reported discrepancies between the mortality statistics of government bodies and statistical organizations. In the United Kingdom, the Office of National Statistics has registered more than 51,000 deaths involving the coronavirus disease in England and Wales as of July 24. The Department of Health and Social Care, as of Friday, has confirmed just 46,511 fatalities across the entire United Kingdom.
