Recently, Russian authorities have revised the official COVID-19 death toll of its capital city, Moscow, for the month of April. Initially, authorities claimed that 639 individuals died as a result of contracting the virus, but this number has been revised to 1,561 deaths. However, the city’s health department stressed that the new total included “debatable” cases in which infection was only suspected.
Earlier this month, reporters in Moscow claimed the official numbers were inaccurate and far too low and were met with backlash from the government accusing the reporters of fake news and distortion. Russia has the third-highest number of cases in the world, reporting 387,623 cases while the official number of deaths stands at 4,374 after the recent revision. Russia has claimed the country’s mass testing program is responsible for the low mortality rate, while others believe that the numbers are much higher.
Read More: Moscow more than doubles city’s Covid-19 death toll
