GLOBAL COVID-19 DEATH TOLL MORE THAN DOUBLE THE ESTIMATES: STUDY

Deaths go unreported as most countries only record those that occur in hospitals or of patients with a confirmed infection, the report which came out on Thursday, revealed.

The IHME is an independent health research organisation that provides a comparable measurement of the world’s health problems and has been cited in the past by the White House and its reports are watched closely by public health officials.

The reported COVID-19 mortality is strongly related to the levels of testing in a country, the IHME said.

In the United States, the analysis estimated COVID-19 related deaths of more than 905,000. Official figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday estimated 575,491 deaths due to the novel coronavirus.

The CDC did not immediately respond to a Reuters news agency request for comment on the report.

The report only includes deaths caused directly by the virus, not deaths caused by the pandemic’s disruption to healthcare systems and communities.

“Many countries have devoted exceptional effort to measuring the pandemic’s toll but our analysis shows how difficult it is to accurately track a new and rapidly spreading infectious disease,” Murray said.

Interviews from medical doctors and village leaders who are involved in the counting the pandemic deaths, however, revealed that the real death toll could be many times higher than the official count.