In 2020 and 2021, 18 million more people died worldwide than would have otherwise been expected in those two years, new research shows.
Family members mourn before the cremation of a loved one who died of Covid-19 on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, on May 13, 2021.The number of people worldwide who died because of the pandemic in its first two years may total more than 18 million, according to a sobering study released Thursday.
“The difference between excess mortality and reported COVID-19 deaths might be a function of underdiagnosis due to insufficient testing, reporting challenges, or higher than expected mortality from other diseases,” the study said.Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the study's lead author, said the findings offer a clearer picture of the pandemic's wrath.
Wang's team collated mortality data from various global databases and government offices for the two years studied, as well as for up to 11 years prior. The team then used that data to create predictive models for places where no statistics were available. It compared those results to calculations of expected deaths without a pandemic, which it modeled based on historical trends.In the end, excess deaths were estimated at 18.2 million as of Dec.
Dr. Prabhat Jha, director of the Centre for Global Health Research in Toronto, said India in particular has not kept accurate tallies of Covid deaths, part of a “long-standing problem” that preceded the pandemic.
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