Moscow vehemently denies reports about understated coronavirus deaths

Officials representing the Moscow Department of Health deny that Russia’s official COVID-19 statistics underestimate the number of coronavirus-caused deaths in the country. Such information earlier appeared in a number of publications that analyzed open data on monthly mortality rates.  According to officials of the Moscow Department of Health, 11,846 deaths were registered in the Russian capital in April 2020, which was 1,841 deaths more than was recorded in April 2019. Journalists concluded that 1,800 deaths might not have been accounted for as coronavirus-caused deaths. "A comparison of mortality rates from the point of view of monthly dynamics is incorrect and does not serve as clear evidence of any trends," department officials said.  The ministry emphasized that in Russia and Moscow, unlike in many other countries, autopsies of bodies of deceased persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are performed in 100% of cases. Therefore, posthumous diagnoses and causes of death are ultimately "highly accurate." Thus, according to the department, coronavirus and its complications, most often pneumonia, have claimed the lives of 639 people from the total number of deaths reported in April.