The WHO has issued new estimates on the deadliness of the COVID pandemic, saying 14.9 million people died “directly or indirectly” because of coronavirus between January 2020 and December 2021.
May 5, 2022 -- The World Health has issued new estimates on the deadliness of the COVID pandemic, saying 14.9 million people died “directly or indirectly” because of coronavirus between January 2020 and December 2021., WHO said its analysis included indirect COVID deaths, defined as occurring when people could not obtain medical treatment because the pandemic overburdened health systems, even if the people were sick with something besides COVID.
“These sobering data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems that can sustain essential health services during crises, including stronger health information systems,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, MD, said in the release.
About 84% of the excess deaths were concentrated in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas, WHO said, with 68% of the excess deaths happening in 10 countries including the United States. The death toll was still higher for males – 57% compared to 43% for females., WHO estimated almost 1 million people had died because of COVID by the end of 2021 – about 13% more than the number of COVID deaths reported at the time.