While state authorities report a slight reduction in the rate of infection, hospitals find it difficult to keep pace • Putin has declared a special bonus for medical teams

• Corona casualties buried in Russia // Photo: IP

Russian authorities on Saturday reported a record number of corona virus deaths after 119 people died in the past day from the deadly virus.

Information from the government center for the war against the virus shows that while the number of dead has risen, the number of new infections has dropped slightly and stands at just 9,200 people in the past day.

Despite the optimism recorded due to the relative decline in the infection rate, Russia's health system is beginning to show signs of collapse. Eight new Corona hospitals opened last week, but are still not enough for the largest number of active patients, the second in the world after the United States.

In an attempt to cope with the burden, Russia has established a total of 16 specialized disease treatment centers that are sufficient for slightly less than 1,600 patients, a fraction of the number of new diagnoses per day. With a view to assisting with the severe burden and resentment among the medical teams in the country, President Putin has ordered a special bonus for the medical staff.

There is also controversy regarding Russia's data on the number of patients and the dead. Data revealed by the Moscow City Council this week in an obscure document and published by the New York Times gives a completely different picture of the death rate from the virus than what the Kremlin authorities were trying to describe. The figures from the Moscow municipality show that the overall mortality rate in the city has risen by nearly 2,000 dead this year, above the average of the previous decade.

More on:

Games with the data: The Hidden Dead of Russia

Russia: Another leap in Corona

In Russia, the Corona is out of control

Experts estimate, from a perusal of the data, that 1,700 people died as a result of the virus in the city, a figure far from Russia's claims, according to the death toll from Corona in the Russian capital, only 642 people.

Mortality rates in Moscow are much higher than the April average over the past decade, "she told The New York Times," Dr. Tatyana Mikhailova, a senior researcher at the Moscow Presidential Academy of Economics and Administration. "One thing is clear, the number of corona victims is at least three times the official number provided by the state," she adds.

The numbers offered by researchers sharply conflict with the Putin administration's official position. In a televised interview given by the president along with Anna Popova, chair of the country's Civil Protection Organization, Popova made the claim that the death rate in Russia is among the lowest in the world. The country's media outlets continue to view Russia's response to the virus as better than Western countries.

That mood was reflected yesterday in President Putin's decision to end the general closure of the Kremlin on Russian citizens and to restore industry and commerce to full activity, imposing local restrictions on local authorities. Meanwhile, more than 11,00 people were infected with the Corona virus yesterday.