WHO Say True Covid Toll is 15M

The Covid pandemic has caused the deaths of nearly 15 million people around the world, the World Health Organization estimated. 

That is 13% more deaths than normally expected over two years. 

The WHO believed many countries undercounted the numbers who died from Covid – only 5.4 million were reported.

And they singled out India and which WHO claimed another 4.7 million Covid deaths in that country were missed out. It means nearly 50 percent of the deaths that until now had not been counted were in India, a tally 10 times higher than the country’s own official figure and almost a third of the global total. 

The Indian government though, have questioned the estimate, saying they have "concerns" about the methodology, but other studies have come to similar conclusions about the scale of deaths in the country. 

Excess mortality is calculated as the difference between the number of deaths that have occurred and the number that would have been expected in the absence of the pandemic, based on data from earlier years. 

And the WHO’s figures reflect people who died because of Covid-19 directly and indirectly due to the pandemic’s wider effect on health systems and society, such as those who could not access healthcare for other conditions when systems were overwhelmed during huge waves of infection. 

Obtaining accurate numbers on Covid deaths worldwide has been problematic throughout the pandemic largely because of limited testing and differences in how governments collate such data. Even pre-pandemic, about six in 10 deaths around the world were not registered, WHO said. 

The majority of the extra 9.5 million deaths seen above the 5.4 million Covid deaths reported were thought to be direct deaths caused by the virus, rather than indirect deaths, WHO had claimed. 

The top five countries with most excess deaths in 2020 and 2021 were: 

Speaking about the scale of the figures, Dr Samira Asma (right), from the WHO's data department, said "It's a tragedy… If we don't count the dead, we will miss the opportunity to be better prepared for the next time".

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added: “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”.