Russia has recorded 20.5 per cent more deaths since the Covid-19 pandemic began in the country in April, data from the Rosstat state statistics service, tallied by Reuters, showed on Monday.

The total figure, at 241,193 more deaths in April-November 2020 than during the same period the previous year, is significantly higher than the preliminary pandemic death toll of 55,265 so far, reported on a cumulative daily basis by the government’s coronavirus crisis centre. This figure includes deaths recorded in December.

Though death tolls fluctuate year-to-year, tallies of what are referred to as excess deaths can illustrate the impact of the pandemic by including cases where the novel coronavirus was not a confirmed cause of death, as well as deaths from other causes that could be linked to the fact that national medical systems are over-stretched.