Insight Bureau: As many as 47.4 lakh people have died due to Covid in India in 2020 and 2021, either directly due to infection or through its indirect impact, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday. The figure, disputed by India, is nearly ten times the country’s official Covid death toll of 4.81 lakh at the end of 2021.
According to WHO, nearly 84 per cent of the total number of excess deaths happened in South East Asia, Europe, and the Americas
The figure, disputed by India, is nearly 10 times the country’s official Covid death toll of 4.81 lakh at the end of 2021.
In the report, WHO said that an estimated 1.5 crore people are likely to have succumbed to the direct or indirect impact of the disease globally during the first two years of the pandemic — instead of the 54 lakh that have been recorded officially by countries separately.
For India, the WHO said about 8.3 lakh deaths are estimated to have happened in 2020 itself.
The numbers come just two days after India released its annual data for registration of births and deaths for the year 2020, recorded in its civil registration system (CRS), which showed about 4.75 lakh more deaths than in previous years, consistent with the trend of rising registrations being seen over the last few years. The CRS does not record cause-specific mortality.
Notably, the Government has repeatedly objected to the process and methodology adopted by the WHO to calculate the excess deaths, and had sent at least ten letters to the global organization in this regard. On Thursday, the Government said in a statement, “WHO has released the excess mortality estimates without adequately addressing India’s concerns.”
According to WHO, nearly 84 per cent of the total number of excess deaths happened in South East Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
The WHO also reported that the world’s Covid deaths are nearly 3 times more than reported. 13.3 to 16.6 million people in 2020 and 2021, they estimated.