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Health watchdog registers mortality rise in Russia in 1st half of 2020

In May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said that mortality in Russia in January-April 2020 decreased by 19,500 in comparison with the same period last year

MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Health watchdog (Roszdravnadzor) registered a rise in mortality in the country in the first six months of 2020, in particular due to the coronavirus infection, head of the watchdog Alla Samoylova said on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, <...> operational data from the first half of the year show that we are observing an increase in mortality. Of course, this is mainly due to a new coronavirus infection, but at the same time, <...> alas, the situation is not the same in all regions. There are regions where we see a significant increase in mortality - it is more than 1,000 people in a region," she said at a meeting of the working group of the State Duma Committee on legislative support and monitoring of the Implementation of the Healthcare national project.

In May, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said that mortality in Russia in January-April 2020 decreased by 19,500 in comparison with the same period last year.

"In January-April 2020, mortality in Russia decreased by 19,500, and by 6,700 in April 2020 alone," she said, adding that these are not final data.

To date, a total of 344,481 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 113,299 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 3,541 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

The main tasks of the Healthcare national project include reduction of mortality from cardiovascular and oncological diseases, introduction of lean technologies, large-scale prevention and screening, elimination of personnel shortages, the development of the infrastructure of children's hospitals.

The national project includes eight federal projects, in particular "Development of the primary healthcare system", "Combating cardiovascular diseases", "Combating oncological diseases", "Development of children's healthcare" and others.

To date, 783,328 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 562,384 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 12,580 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

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