Health care experts say that confirmed deaths represent a fraction of the true number of deaths due to COVID-19 because of limited testing.
Nurses perform timed breathing exercises on a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the la Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France on Dec. 31, 2021.
And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the United States is nearing 1 million reported deaths on its own. But despite the enormity of the figure, the world undoubtedly hit its 6 millionth death some time ago. Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths, in addition to excess deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infections, like people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full.
Although the overall figures in the Pacific islands seeing their first outbreaks are small compared to larger countries, they are significant among their tiny populations and threaten to overwhelm fragile health care systems. Only 12% of Solomon Islanders are fully vaccinated, though the outbreak has provided new impetus to the country's vaccination campaign and 29% now have at least one shot.
Eastern Europe has been particularly hard hit by the omicron variant, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new risk has emerged as hundreds of thousands of people flee to places like Poland on crowded trains. Health officials there have been offering free vaccinations to all refugees, but have not been making them test upon arrival or quarantine.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
COVID-19 death toll nears 6 million as pandemic enters its 3rd yearCOVID-19 death toll tops 6 million three years into the pandemic.
Read more »
Covid-19: Four Covid-related deaths and 1,725 casesThe total number of deaths linked to the virus reported by Stormont's Department of Health is 3,230.
Read more »
Global Death Toll Passes 6 Million for COVID, and Experts Say That's an UndercountDespite the enormity of the figure of 6 million deaths — more than the populations of Berlin and Brussels combined, or the entire state of Maryland — experts say the number is likely a vast undercount.
Read more »
COVID-19 death toll surpasses 6 million worldwideThe tragic number confirmed Monday is believed to be a vast undercount and shows that the pandemic in its third year is far from done. It's also a reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.
Read more »
World's COVID-19 death toll nears 6 millionThe milestone is a tragic reminder about the pandemic's deadliness even as masks are dropping, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.
Read more »