MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. The coronavirus caused 5,199 deaths in Russia in September compared to 4,018 deaths in August, the Federal State Statistics Service said in a statement on Friday.

"COVID-19 was the main cause of death in 4,329 cases in September. The coronavirus was the presumed cause of death in another 870 cases, additional medical tests need to be conducted to confirm it," the statement reads.

According to the state statistics service, the coronavirus was the primary cause of death in 3,436 cases in August and the presumed cause of death in 582 cases.

In addition, COVID-19 hastened the death of 1,401 people in September. "COVID-19 coexisted with other diseases and led to complications resulting in death in 1,401 cases in September," the statement said.

Coronavirus pandemic

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 48.6 mln people have been infected worldwide and more than 1.2 deaths have been reported.

To date, 1,733,440 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,296,124 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 29,887 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.