Analysis: Half of Global Coronavirus Deaths Unreported

[nitpicker]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/analysis-half-of-global-coronavirus-deaths-unreported/ar-BB1gqSQ8?ocid=msedgntp

Analysis: Half of Global Coronavirus Deaths Unreported
By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder|
May 6, 2021, at 1:10 p.m.


The real count of global deaths caused by the coronavirus is more than double the number officially reported, according to a new analysis.


Researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation analyzed excess mortality numbers and found about 6.9 million global fatalities from the virus. The current count reported by Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 dashboard is over 3.2 million deaths.
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The analysis found that the U.S. still has the highest death toll of any country. But instead of the country's official toll of nearly 580,000 lives lost, it is actually over 900,000, according to the analysis. That number would put the U.S. well over the death toll from the 1918 flu pandemic, which was estimated to be about 675,000 lives.

Murray detailed reasons for why countries are underreporting coronavirus deaths, including missing cases unintentionally as health care systems come under pressure and lack of adequate testing to identify COVID-19-caused deaths.

But some countries have such a large disparity in the numbers that "there likely is something else going on – something around either coding practice by physicians or recommendations on the statistical front," Murray said.

Researchers performed the analysis by calculating excess mortality, which is the number of deaths beyond what would be expected based on pre-pandemic trends. They adjusted the excess deaths to account for certain factors like the impact of decreased access to health care during the pandemic and lower traffic deaths due to less mobility.
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