Russia Hails Low Coronavirus Deaths as Critics Question Count

  • Russia has lowest mortality rate among the worst-hit countries
  • Regional hospitals have served as vectors for spread of virus

A medical worker at a COVID-19 facility in Moscow, on May 7.

Photographer: Sergei Bobylev/TASS via Getty Images

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As coronavirus infections in Russia surge toward 200,000, the government’s senior health official is pointing to a low mortality rate as a sign that the hospital system is coping with the pandemic.