Russia’s second-largest city St. Petersburg had the highest coronavirus mortality rate among all Russian cities in the month of April, according to a new analysis of official data.
St. Petersburg recorded 200 deaths where Covid-19 was a direct cause or “had a significant impact” on the person’s death in April, state statistics agency Rosstat said Saturday.
St. Petersburg’s Covid-19 mortality rate of 4.7% that month was double those of both Moscow and Russia overall, making it the highest in the country, the Open Media news website reported Monday.
It was also 6.5 times higher than the city’s officially reported mortality for April.
“St. Petersburg’s increased mortality rate may be due to a lack of strict self-isolation measures relative to the Moscow mayor’s office, or failure to register cases,” Open Media reported, citing experts.
St. Petersburg has 10 times fewer Covid-19 infections than the Russian capital with around half of its population.
In May, St. Petersburg saw 6,427 deaths, about 28% more than the average May total of 5,027 over the past decade, official data said earlier this month. The figures suggest that more people may have died from Covid-19 last month than the city’s 171 officially reported deaths.
Russia has reported more than 537,000 coronavirus cases, the world’s third-highest number of infections, since the global pandemic reached the country in March.
Rosstat’s figures also doubled Russia’s official coronavirus death toll for April to 2,712 after changing how it classifies fatalities.
