It’s an almost impossible job: counting the exact number of deaths linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The WHO is still trying to make a new estimate. Balance sheet: around 14.9 million between 2020 and 2021, says the agency. That’s almost three times what the states reported. Why such a big difference?
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jeremiah Lance
If the World Health Organization (WHO) retains 14.9 million deaths, this is only an average. The range goes from 13.3 to 16.6 million victims.
This includes anyone who died directly from the virus. But also all the deaths linked to the pandemic.
It can be people with chronic illnesses who have not been able to seek treatment due to movement restrictions; those whose surgery had to be postponed when all the doctors were mobilized in the intensive care units.
Ten countries alone account for 70% of this excess mortality. At the forefront of which, India, which could have ten times more victims than what New Delhi was kind enough to report.
The subject is eminently political, but the WHO denies doing arithmetic for arithmetic’s sake. Counting the deaths of Covid and when these deaths took place also means understanding what went wrong in the fight against the pandemic. And better prepare for the next one.
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