MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow’s health department said on Monday it had recorded 3,408 deaths related to the novel coronavirus in June, saying they helped account for an increase of nearly 42% in the city’s mortality rate compared to the same month last year.

The local health department in Moscow, the area worst-hit by the pandemic in Russia, said it had recorded 13,128 deaths in June, including 3,408 it attributed to the coronavirus.

The department identified 1,605 cases in which the coronavirus had been the main cause of death and said that 1,803 others had died of other causes while testing positive for the virus.

It added that there had been 35% fewer deaths in June of patients thought to have the coronavirus than in May.

The Moscow health department had attributed 5,260 deaths to the virus for the month of May.

Russia on Monday reported 6,537 new cases of the coronavirus, pushing its nationwide tally to 733,699, the fourth largest reported in the world.

Authorities said 104 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing Russia’s official death toll to 11,439.

(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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