St. Petersburg records tenfold increase in community-acquired pneumonia cases

In May 2020, St. Petersburg recorded 9,560 cases of community-acquired pneumonia — 9.9 times more than in May 2019, states a report from the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region’s branch of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). This statistic was first reported by the St. Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka. 

Between January and May of this year, St. Petersburg had 20,537 cases of community-acquired pneumonia, which is 2.7 times more than during the same period in 2019.

St. Petersburg also recorded 27,878 deaths during the first five months of 2020, which is 2,148 more than from January to May 2019. 

The St. Petersburg Health Committee noted that pneumonia is the main complication arising from the coronavirus infection, and confirmed that the increased number of pneumonia cases is linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, which peaked in the city at the end of May and beginning of June. “Not all patients with community acquired pneumonia had laboratory confirmation of COVID-19. Many were diagnosed on the basis of a characteristic clinical picture and CT data,” the committee said.

According to data from the federal headquarters for combating the coronavirus, St. Petersburg has recorded 30,100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, including 22,714 recoveries and 1,881 deaths.

St. Petersburg recorded 7,106 deaths in June 2020, marking the city’s highest mortality rate for this month in the past 10 years.