Why is it hard to count the number of deaths caused by the pandemic?

Murugesu was written by Jason Arunn.

According to the World Health Organization, there were close to 15 million deaths from the coronaviruses between January 2020 and December 2021.

This figure is more than double the number of deaths reported by the WHO. The fact that recording deaths of any kind is an inexact science in many parts of the world is something that experts say must be solved.

The WHO's new estimate is based on the number of deaths that would have been expected. National death data for each country was combined with statistics from scientific studies carried out in the same country. They used a statistical model to account for deaths that may have been overlooked.

The method of counting deaths caused by covid-19 includes deaths caused by people who died early because healthcare systems were overwhelmed.

Several countries undercounted the number of people who died in the Pandemic. India accounts for half of the extra deaths estimated by the WHO.

India has the largest death toll from covid-19 in the world. The team reported that the country had more excess deaths in this time period than the official death toll.

Read more: Why have there been so many coronavirus deaths in the UK?

The figures show that many countries still don't have effective ways to record dead people. According to the WHO, about 60 per cent of deaths aren't registered.

In 2020, India had 10 million deaths and 3 million of them were simply not registered. In order to maintain Hindu and Muslim traditions, bodies are quickly cremated and half of deaths occur at home.

The WHO's findings suggest that the hope that India would better weather the Pandemic was flawed.

A lack of covid-19 data is an issue in many African countries. Only five of the 47 countries on the continent gave any empirical data to the WHO.

Knowing the true death toll of the H1N1 epidemic is the first step to better understanding what happened.

It isn't impossible to tackle these problems.

He says that rural areas are still a problem.

In the 21st century, we don't have a handle on how many covid-19 deaths have occurred.

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