Tribaligenesis
All Star
I just realised. A mask is probably a great way to fight spring hay-fever.
Probably going to wear a mask during flu season from now on. First time in years I've not had it

I just realised. A mask is probably a great way to fight spring hay-fever.

I just realised. A mask is probably a great way to fight spring hay-fever.
Probably going to wear a mask during flu season from now on. First time in years I've not had it![]()
Really?3rd wave in Ontario, Canada. Unreal.
The variants are taking hold and increasing the caseload.Really?
What's happening?
The demographer's story
"I don't even look at those numbers," demographer Alexei Raksha says, and claims that the daily data in Russia has been "smoothed, rounded, lowered" to look better.
Officials have always denied that.
Alexei worked at Rosstat for six years until he says he was forced to leave last summer for being too vocal about Covid. But he says Rosstat's numbers are critical to assessing the real cost of the pandemic and, like many experts, he uses excess mortality as the best indicator.
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"If Russia stops at 500,000 excess deaths, that will be a good scenario," the now freelance demographer argues. He calculates that the current toll is pushing 450,000 - a giant leap from the 94,267 deaths published online on Friday by Russia's Covid headquarters.
Even that lower number is rarely cited by officials, though.
"In Covid, you choose between the economy and people's lives - mostly older people's lives," is how Alexei sees the government's rationale. We met in a coffee bar - there's been no lockdown here since Spring.
"The Russian state chose the economy. They won't say it, but it's obvious."