In February, the number of deaths from COVID-19 amounted to 43.2 thousand people, according to Rosstat, which is 21% more than in January. The number of deaths from all causes and the natural decline in the population decreased in January-February
Photo: Petr Kovalev / TASS
Coronavirus in February 2022 became the main or presumably main cause of death for more than 37.5 thousand Russians. In about 5.7 thousand more deaths in February, COVID-19 was recognized as a concomitant factor – it had or did not have a significant impact on the development of fatal complications. Such data are provided in the vital statistics published by Rosstat on April 1 (compiled on the basis of medical certificates from the registry office system).
The total number of deaths with coronavirus (regardless of whether it was the main cause or concomitant factor) increased by 20.6% compared to January 2022 and amounted to 43.2 thousand people. This is two times less than the peak figure in November 2021 (88.1 thousand people).
In February, an outbreak of the omicron strain occurred in Russia, which caused a sharp increase in cases of infection – up to 200 thousand per day at its peak. But in general, the disease with this strain is milder than with previous strains of coronavirus and is characterized by a relatively low level of deaths. Mortality among those infected with “omicron” is 4-17 times lower than among those infected with other strains of coronavirus, noted at the Center. Gamaleya.
Over the entire period of the pandemic since April 2020, more than 660 thousand people have died directly from the coronavirus in Russia, of which almost 70 thousand died in the first two months of 2022. In 2020, COVID claimed the lives of 144 thousand Russians, in 2021 – 447 thousand, Rosstat reported. The total number of deaths with coronavirus (the main cause and concomitant factor) since the beginning of the pandemic has reached 760.3 thousand people.
Due to the strong decrease in overall mortality in January 2022 compared to the same month of the previous year, the number of deaths from all causes in January-February shows a decrease by 2.3% compared to the same period in 2021. As a result, the natural population decline in Russia in January-February amounted to 178.7 thousand people, which is 2.7% less than in the comparable period of 2021 (183.7 thousand). In the first two months of 2022, 204.9 thousand children were born in the country, which is 1.9% lower than last year’s result. In 2021, the natural decline in Russia reached 1.04 million people.
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