The Russian Ministry of Health will not include patients who have no complaints in COVID-19 incidence statistics

The Russian Ministry of Health will not include in statistics of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 cases when a patient with coronavirus has no complaints. This is stated in the methodological recommendations published on the department’s website.

When choosing causes of death in cases related to coronavirus, the Ministry of Health recommends using the same rules as for the flu. Most often, coronavirus will be the initial cause of death. In this case, the diagnosis must reflect all complications that, in the event of death, became direct and intermediate causes of death.

All coronavirus-related deaths will be divided into two groups:

— when COVID-19 is chosen as the initial cause of death;

— when COVID-19 is recognized as another cause of death, including if the infection had a significant impact on the development of the underlying disease and its fatal complications.

The Ministry of Health notes that when choosing the original cause of death, sequences in which the coronavirus is considered to be a consequence of any other disease, including HIV, cancer and conditions that weaken the immune system, are rejected. If people who were diagnosed with coronavirus died from other diseases, pathological conditions or accidents, then this will not be counted as a death from COVID-19.

A survey conducted in the Doctor's Directory application showed that more than a third of Russian doctors working with coronavirus, in the case of pneumonia caused by COVID-19, put a code for another disease in their documents. This makes it possible to correct morbidity and mortality statistics.