Global COVID-19 death toll more than double official estimates - IHME

TheCOVID-19pandemic has caused nearly 6.9 milliondeaths across the world,morethandoublethe numberofficially recorded, a new analysis from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimated.

Deaths go unreported as most countries only record those that occur in hospitals or of patients with a confirmed infection, the report showed.

TheIHMEis an independent health research organization that provides comparable measurement of the world's health problems and has been cited in the past by the White House and its reports are watched closely by public healthofficials.

The reportedCOVID-19mortality is strongly related to the levels of testing in a country, theIHMEsaid.

"If you don't test very much, you're most likely to missCOVIDdeaths," Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said in a briefing call with journalists.

IHMEestimated totalCOVID-19deaths by comparing anticipateddeaths from all causes based on pre-pandemic trends with the actual number of alldeaths caused during the pandemic.

In the United States, the analysis estimatedCOVID-19relateddeaths ofmorethan905,000.Officialfigures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday estimated 575,491deaths due to the novel coronavirus.

The CDC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

The report only includesdeaths caused directly by the virus, notdeaths caused by the pandemic's disruption to healthcare systems and communities.

"Many countries have devoted exceptional effort to measuring the pandemic'stoll, but our analysis shows how difficult it is to accurately track a new and rapidly spreading infectious disease," Murray said.