WHO: Deaths due to pandemic much higher than reported

GENEVA • Up to three times more people have died due to the coronavirus pandemic than indicated by the officially reported Covid-19 deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday.

So far, more than 3.4 million deaths worldwide have officially been attributed to Covid-19.

But according to a global health statistics report from the WHO, far more people have died who would otherwise not have, had it not been for the pandemic.

"Total deaths are at least two to three times higher than officially reported," said Dr Samira Asma, the WHO assistant director-general in charge of data.

Last year, the report found at least three million excess deaths due directly or indirectly to Covid-19. The official number of virus deaths was 1.8 million at the end of the year. Asked how many excess deaths could be attributed to the pandemic today, Dr Asma said that "about six to eight million deaths could be an estimate".

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", she added.

The discrepancy is due to a number of factors, including lagging reporting on Covid-19 deaths in a number of countries; the fact that many people early on died of the virus without being tested; and also that many were unable to get treatment for other diseases and conditions due to lockdown measures.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE