6-8 million people dead so far, three times the official Covid tolls: WHO

The World Health Organisation on Friday said that the number of deaths directly or indirectly attributed to coronavirus is three times the official toll. The global health body has estimated that there is likely a significant under-count of deaths and 6-8 million people may have died so far.

Referred by health experts as ‘excess mortality’, the estimate includes both reported and under reported deaths as well as indirect deaths, that is, fatalities caused due to the lack of medical infrastructure and restrictions amongst other factors.

WHO’s statistics suggest that at least 3 million people died last year which is 1.2 million more than the official count.