Admin l Thursday, May 05, 2022
GENEVA, Switzerland – The World Health Organisation, WHO has said that approximately 14.9 million deaths globally are now directly or indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic by the end 2021.
In a statement, WHO said the figure represents 9.5 million more deaths than those reported so far, directly attributed to COVID-19.
The world body explained that excess mortality is calculated as the difference between the number of deaths that have occurred and the number that would be expected, in the absence of the pandemic.
“It includes people who died from the coronavirus disease, or those who died indirectly from the pandemic’s impact on health systems and communities where they live, such as people with other health conditions who were unable to access vital care”, WHO said.
“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,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General has said.
According to him, the data cover the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021, with the estimated range of excess mortality at 13.3 million to 16.6 million.
