The official figures include only those deaths attributed to coronavirus, but experts are increasingly looking at data comparing this year's death rates with previous years - regardless of the official cause. But in the same period, authorities noted 25,354 "excess deaths" compared with the average of the five previous years. Even in Germany, widely considered by experts to have handled the outbreak better than other EU countries, 3,706 deaths more than the average were noted in March, even as the official virus toll was 2,218. Iran, the worst-hit Middle Eastern country, has not published detailed mortality figures since December 2019. Italian officials have acknowledged that excess mortality could include coronavirus victims who were not counted as such, and sick people who died as a result of saturated hospital systems.

Source: Dhaka Tribune May 15, 2020 13:41 UTC