Official tolls showing the number of deaths directly or indirectly attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to be a “significant undercount”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday,Presenting its annual World Health Statistics report, the WHO said six to eight million people may have died so far. It estimated total deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 were at least three million last year or 1.2 million more than officially reported. “We are likely facing a significant undercount of total deaths directly and indirectly attributed to Covid-19,” it said. WHO data analyst William Msemburi said this estimate included both unreported Covid-19 deaths as well as indirect deaths due to the lack of hospital capacity and restrictions on movements among other factors. “The challenge is that the reported Covid-19 [death toll figures] is an undercount of that full impact,” Mr Msemburi said.

Source: The Irish Times May 21, 2021 10:30 UTC