The World Health Organisation (WHO) says there is likely a “significant undercount” of total deaths directly and indirectly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic globally.
According to the UN agency, 6 to 8 million people may have died so far from the disease.
Presenting its annual World Health Statistics report on Friday, the WHO estimated total deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 were at least 3 million, or 1.2 million more than officially reported across the world.
“We are likely facing a significant undercount of total deaths directly and indirectly attributed to COVID-19,” the report said.
The UN agency officially estimates that around 3.4 million people have died directly as a result of the pandemic by May 2021.
“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, during a virtual press briefing.
The organisation’s data analysts say this estimate includes both unreported coronavirus fatalities as well as indirect deaths due to the lack of hospital capacity and restrictions on movements, among other factors.
The US remains the country with the most number of COVID-19 deaths, followed by India, Brazil and Mexico.
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