WHO: Total Death Toll from COVID Could be at Least 6-8 Million

World

May 21st, 8:44am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Soldiers in protective suits disinfect a metro station following a surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in Taipei, Taiwan May 20, 2021. REUTERS/Ann Wang

At least 6-8 million people may have died due to the COVID-19 pandemic so far versus the World Health Organization's official toll of around 3.4 million, a WHO official said on Friday. "This number would truly be two to three times higher. So I think safely about 6 to 8 million deaths could be an estimate on a cautionary note," said Samira Asma, WHO's Assistant Director-General in its data and analytics division at a virtual press briefing. In 2020, it found there had been at least three million excess deaths due directly or indirectly to COVID-19, while the official number of coronavirus deaths was 1.8 million at the end of the year. The WHO was working with countries "to understand the true human toll of the pandemic so we can be better prepared for the next emergency," Asma said. The discrepancy is due to a number of factors, including lagging reporting on COVID deaths in a number of countries; the fact that many people early on died of COVID without being tested; and also that many were unable to get treatment for other diseases and conditions due to lockdown measures. "Excess mortality gives us a better picture, because it captures both of these direct and indirect effects," WHO data analyst William Msemburi told reporters.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2984581/who-total-death-toll-covid-could-be-least-6-8-million