COVID has caused an official global count of nearly 2.6 million deaths but there are also indirect excess deaths. Excess mortality is a more comprehensive measure of the total impact of the pandemic on deaths than the confirmed COVID-19 death count alone. It captures confirmed deaths and COVID-19 deaths that were not correctly diagnosed and reported as well as deaths from other causes that are attributable to the overall crisis conditions. The hospitals were strained and people avoided going to the doctor.
When the official US COVID-19 death count was 370,000 the excess pandemic deaths (COVID and non-COVID) was estimated at 500,000. The current official US COVID-19 death count is now 520,000 so the excess pandemic deaths (COVID and non-COVID) would be estimated at 780,000.
Russia has one of the world’s largest excess-mortality gaps. They recorded 370,000 more deaths than expected between April and December, compared with an official covid-19 toll of only 56,000. Russia now has 87,000 covid-19 deaths. The excess deaths in Russia would be 570,000 if the indirect or non-covid excess deaths scaled with the official covid-19 count.
Many African countries do not have any real census of their people. It is a political choice to not count or recognize growing minority populations. They do not want to count some people and choose not to count anyone. Some countries have not had a census for decades.
Actual COVID and non-COVID actual global deaths likely range from 3.5 to 8 million so far.
SOURCES- Our World in Data, Economist, BBC
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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