(Bloomberg) -- Russia's death toll related to Covid-19 hit a record of 22,571 in October, more than 80% above the previous peak seen in May, the State Statistics Service said, as the disease spreads widely across the country.
The data, released Thursday and based on death certificates, are considered more accurate than the daily figures reported by the government's virus-response office. Those put the October total at 7,344. Officials blame reporting issues for the difference and reject charges that they're deliberately underreporting the death toll.
Russia has the fourth-largest number of cases of the disease in the world, but Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said this week that its death rate is lower than those in many other countries.
The latest data put the total death toll at 78,623 between April and October, more than double the virus-response office's figure of 28,220 for that period. Those figures include only deaths attributed to Covid-19, while the State Statistics Service data also include cases where the disease was detected but not reported among primary causes of death.
The agency revised upward its count of deaths linked to Covid-19 in September to 10,179.
Covid-19 was the largest contributor to the 151,191 increase in deaths so far this year from 2019, bringing the total to 1.66 million, according to the statistics agency. That's the highest level since at least 2011.
Russia began administering its Covid-19 vaccine to health workers and other key groups this week.
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