Excess mortality is calculated by taking the difference between the actual number of deaths and the number of deaths estimated in the absence of a pandemic. The WHO released a new estimate on Thursday.
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A global carnage. The Covid-19 pandemic killed between 13 and 17 million people from January 2020 to December 2021, according to a new WHO estimate published Thursday, May 5. These highly anticipated figures give a more realistic idea of the devastating effects, including indirect ones, of the worst pandemic in a century and which continues to claim thousands of lives every week.
Since the start of the pandemic, figures from member countries compiled by the WHO come to a total of 5.4 million deaths over the same period, but the WHO has long warned that these figures underestimate the reality . Excess mortality is calculated by taking the difference between the actual number of deaths and the number of deaths estimated in the absence of a pandemic, based on existing statistics.
“These sobering data underscore not only the impact of the pandemic, but also 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 WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.