https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-covid-19-global-death-toll-who-estimate/
Nearly 15 million people died in first two years of COVID-19 pandemic, new WHO study finds
Geoffrey York
Africa Bureau Chief
Johannesburg
The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic has killed nearly 15 million people around the world, a new detailed estimate from the World Health Organization has found.
The latest estimate, focusing on direct and indirect mortality caused by the pandemic, is nearly triple the official count of 5.4 million deaths in the same period. Global deaths since January were not included in the study.
The data, released by the WHO on Thursday, show that the world has vastly underestimated the true toll of the pandemic. Official statistics have undercounted the deaths caused directly by the coronavirus, while also missing the millions of deaths caused by indirect effects, such as those who died of other causes when they were turned away from hospitals filled with COVID-19 patients.
The new estimate “gives a more objective picture of the pandemic†than the officially recorded statistics of confirmed deaths, the WHO said in a statement.
The estimate was reportedly delayed for months because of objections from the government of India, which was unhappy that the data would show millions of uncounted deaths in India. But many other governments have also greatly undercounted the deaths in their countries, according to the latest data.
The new estimate was produced by a technical advisory committee of experts on “excess mortality†– the difference between the actual number of deaths and the number of deaths that would normally be expected if a pandemic had not occurred.
About 84 per cent of the pandemic’s deaths were in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, according to the new estimate. About 85 per cent were in middle-income or low-income countries, with men accounting for 57 per cent of deaths, the data show.
In total, the number of excess deaths from January, 2020, to December, 2021, was in the range of 13.3 million to 16.6 million, with the best estimate being 14.9 million, the WHO said. ....
Nearly 15 million people died in first two years of COVID-19 pandemic, new WHO study finds
Geoffrey York
Africa Bureau Chief
Johannesburg
The first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic has killed nearly 15 million people around the world, a new detailed estimate from the World Health Organization has found.
The latest estimate, focusing on direct and indirect mortality caused by the pandemic, is nearly triple the official count of 5.4 million deaths in the same period. Global deaths since January were not included in the study.
The data, released by the WHO on Thursday, show that the world has vastly underestimated the true toll of the pandemic. Official statistics have undercounted the deaths caused directly by the coronavirus, while also missing the millions of deaths caused by indirect effects, such as those who died of other causes when they were turned away from hospitals filled with COVID-19 patients.
The new estimate “gives a more objective picture of the pandemic†than the officially recorded statistics of confirmed deaths, the WHO said in a statement.
The estimate was reportedly delayed for months because of objections from the government of India, which was unhappy that the data would show millions of uncounted deaths in India. But many other governments have also greatly undercounted the deaths in their countries, according to the latest data.
The new estimate was produced by a technical advisory committee of experts on “excess mortality†– the difference between the actual number of deaths and the number of deaths that would normally be expected if a pandemic had not occurred.
About 84 per cent of the pandemic’s deaths were in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, according to the new estimate. About 85 per cent were in middle-income or low-income countries, with men accounting for 57 per cent of deaths, the data show.
In total, the number of excess deaths from January, 2020, to December, 2021, was in the range of 13.3 million to 16.6 million, with the best estimate being 14.9 million, the WHO said. ....
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