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Despairing Russian Doctors Cast Doubt on Coronavirus Tally

Jamie Dettmer

   President Vladimir Putin has compared Russian doctors to heroic Red
   Army soldiers battling the Nazis during World War II. Last week, the
   Russian leader signed decrees honoring doctors with special awards for
   their coronavirus efforts.
   Many Russian medics, however, have voiced dismay at what they say is
   poor public appreciation for their sacrifices and are expressing anger
   with a government they say is failing them and their patients. They
   question the official figures the government has published for new
   cases and the death tally exacted by COVID-19, the disease caused by
   the novel virus which first emerged last year in the Chinese city of
   Wuhan.
   The country's poorly resourced medical staff are generally guarded when
   speaking out about the shortage of personal protective equipment, or
   PPE, specialists and overstretched facilities. Russia's Supreme Court
   has ruled it illegal to discuss "fake news" about the deadly
   coronavirus pandemic in public and say doing so is punishable by up to
   five years in prison.
   Even so, some appear prepared to court the wrath of the authorities.
   From across the country, raw medial testimonies echo each other in
   their grievances and descriptions. In the early stages of the pandemic,
   some tried to raise the alarm at the casual mixing in wards of
   suspected COVID-19 patients with those suffering from other illnesses.
   And they have warned of a devastating lack of PPE and scant safety
   measures being observed in hospitals. A midwife from Ufa, a town in the
   Volga region, explained recently to Novaya Gazeta, an independent
   investigative newspaper, that large numbers of doctors are falling
   sick. "Doctors just take some of the drugs they have and continue to
   work because there is no one to replace us," she said.

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