Moscow reported a 300% month-on-month increase in coronavirus deaths for October, the Russian capital’s health department said late Thursday.
In September, the city’s health department said Covid-19 was the direct cause of death among 543 Muscovites.
As the second wave of the virus escalated in October, Moscow’s health department said coronavirus was the main cause in 2,235 deaths that month. That’s 311%, or four times, more than the number in September.
Another 1,338 Muscovites tested positive for Covid-19 but died from other causes in October, the health department said, bringing Moscow’s overall number of coronavirus-related deaths for the month to 3,573.
A total of 13,718 Muscovites died in October — 2,541 more than in September, 3,262 more than in October 2019 and 3,173 more than the past three-year average. The Moscow health department said the Covid-19 deaths “explain all excess mortality for October.”
Moscow’s overall Covid-19 fatality rate totaled 2.13% when it was the sole cause of death and 4.3% when the disease was not the main cause of death.
Russia’s coronavirus information center places Moscow’s overall Covid-19 death toll at 8,603 and the national death toll at 38,062, a number widely thought to be undercounted.
The epicenter of Russia’s outbreak, Moscow has registered more than a quarter of the country’s nearly 2.2 million coronavirus cases. Moscow has reported record numbers of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations in recent days.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who extended some of the remote work and self-isolation restrictions into the new year, said earlier Thursday that the city does not plan to go into full lockdown.