Week-ending 15 May 2020
Tatiana Golikova, ministser of health: ‘We never manipulate official statistical data.’
Source:
Russia defends its ‘exceptionally precise’ Covid-19 death data
Russian officials have defended the country against claims that its unusually low mortality rate from Covid-19 is suspicious, saying its method of ascribing cause of death is “exceptionally precise”. Figures released this week have given an inside look into how Russia – which now has the second highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world – tabulates deaths from the disease, a process that differs significantly from many western countries but which Russian health officials have defended as superior. Russia’s mortality rate is 0.9%, making it an outlier among the countries facing some of the worst outbreaks of coronavirus in the world. “We never manipulate official statistical data,” said Tatiana Golikova, the country’s top health official, when asked about a Financial Times analysis this week. Officials have also decried a New York Times report on the country’s mortality rate. The Guardian, 14 May 2020
