Russia reports 101 medic deaths

MOSCOW: Russia said on Tuesday that at least 101 medics have died from coronavirus in the first such official announcement, while an online tally compiled by doctors gives a far higher figure.

“Last Friday 101 people were on the confirmed list,” senior health ministry official Lyudmila Letnikova told lawmakers, Interfax news agency reported. The head of the ministry’s public health department told the parliamentary health committee that the ministry keeps a register of deaths of medical personnel, but this is the first time a figure has been given publicly.

Letnikova said the ministry had asked Russian regions to provide death counts. The official number is much lower however than the total on an online list compiled by doctors from data sent in by colleagues, which has 293 names.

The “Remembrance List” site was launched in April by medics including cardiologist Alexei Erlikh, who works at a Moscow state hospital. The creators of the list said their aim was to provide reliable information on deaths of health workers, fearing that the authorities would not do so.