Unwanted record: Russia’s COVID deaths hit new high in July

MOSCOW (AP) — A new report from Russia’s state statistics agency shows the country recorded a record number of deaths in July of people infected with coronavirus. The report from the Rosstat agency said 50,421 people suffering from COVID-19 died during the month, sharply higher than the previous record of 44,435 in December. However, the agency said in the report that only 38,992 deaths were directly attributed to the disease. In another 5,206 deaths, the virus was assessed as likely the main cause but that more investigation would be need; in 1,449 other cases the virus contributed to deaths but was not the main cause. The report said Russia had seen 215,265 virus-related deaths by the end of July — more than the 180,840 cited by the national coronavirus task force.