WHO notes 15 million excess deaths over 2 COVID years

In highly anticipated findings today, the technical advisory group for the World Health Organization (WHO) released excess death data for 2020 and 2021, which suggest that the real COVID-19 number is nearly three times higher than officially reported.The report also revealed other key trends, including that the pandemic has been deadlier for men and has exposed gaps in reporting.'Behind these numbers are people'The WHO said the goal of the study was to clarify the true impact of the pandemic.

The complex process of assessing deaths takes into account deaths directly related to COVID, but also assesses deaths from not receiving care when health systems were overwhelmed.The estimates also take into account fatalities averted—such as from car accidents and workplace injuries—when COVID-19 measures were in place.The WHO estimated there were 14.9 million excess deaths in 2020 and 2021, with a range between 13.3 million to 16.6 million.

As of today, the fatality count on the WHO's COVID-19 dashboard is 6.24 million.Samira Asma, DDS, MPH, the WHO's assistant director-general for data, analytics, and delivery, said in a video press release that measuring excess deaths is key to understanding the true impact of the pandemic, important for both policymakers and the public.

She added that accurate estimates help public health officials make targeted investments in public health and noted that the estimatation process revealed an urgent need to invest in good data gathering.Most important, the numbers are a reminder of the tragic loss of life, Asma said. "We have to remember that behind these numbers are people."The WHO's expert group developed methods to produce mortality estimates, even when data were incomplete or unavailable.