The true death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could be more than three times higher than official figures suggest, researchers say.
In this context, “excessive deaths” in countries and regions were determined by comparing the death rates of previous years with the epidemic period.
The study found an “extraordinary” increase in death rates in countries and regions following the onset of the epidemic.
Researchers suggested that the number of people who lost their lives due to COVID-19 in 2020-2021 may be three times more than the announced figures with approximately 18.2 million.
It is pointed out that COVID-19 may worsen existing chronic diseases such as heart and lung in people, and that deaths may have increased in this way.
According to the study, the highest rate of “excess death” is seen in Bolivia, one of the Latin American countries, followed by Bulgaria from the European continent and Eswatini from Africa. Iceland, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Taiwan had the lowest “excess death” rates.
The results of the study were published in the medical journal The Lancet.
