The COVID-19 pandemic has caused nearly 6.9 million deaths worldwide, more than double the officially reported number, according to a new analysis by the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The report showed that many deaths go unreported, as most countries only report deaths from the virus in hospitals or in patients with confirmed infection.
The reported deaths from COVID-19 depend a lot on the level of testing in the country, according to the institute. “If you don't do a lot of tests, you are more likely to miss out on deaths from COVID-19,” said Christopher Murray, director of the institute.
In the United States, it is estimated that the number of deaths associated with COVID-19 has exceeded 90,000. According to official data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, 575,491 people died due to the coronavirus.