There were 44,265 deaths associated with the virus last month, bringing the pandemic’s total to nearly half a million, according to Federal Statistics Service data published late Friday. That contributed to the highest number of September fatalities since the war, said Alexei Raksha, a demographer who left the agency last year after a dispute over its coronavirus numbers.

The situation is poised to get worse after record numbers of cases in recent weeks, leading President Vladimir Putin to declare days off nationwide. Widespread distrust of the government has hindered attempts to get people to use locally developed vaccines.

“If the authorities’ approach to fighting Covid-19 doesn’t change radically, we can expect new waves of infections,” Raksha said. “The lockdown should be real, strict and and several weeks, like in Latvia, and not ‘non-working days’ at the expense of employers.”