LIMA, Peru — Peruvian authorities and the Pan American Health Organization are investigating whether the country failed to count 27,253 deaths caused by the novel coronavirus, a figure that could more than double the country's official death toll from COVID-19. Peru already has one of the world's highest tolls from the disease. If a large number of the suspected cases are confirmed, Peru's death toll could surpass those of larger countries such as Spain, France and Italy. Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti announced Thursday night that thousands of death certificates list COVID-19 as one of several causes of death, but they were not included in the country's official toll because the victims did not undergo a coronavirus test before dying. She said that Peru had only listed 19,021 victims as dying from COVID-19 because international standards required both a death certificate listing coronavirus and a positive test for the disease in order for a death to be included in official statistics.

Source: International New York Times July 31, 2020 16:18 UTC