As many as 18.2 million people probably died from Covid in the first two years of the pandemic, researchers found in the first peer-reviewed global estimate of excess deaths.
The study published in The Lancet also found that the highest numbers of excess deaths were estimated in India (approx 4.1 million deaths). This is followed by US, Russia, Mexico and Brazil.
The study aimed at assessing the extent of pandemic's devastation brings to fore the unreliable mortality data and explains the discrepancy with official estimates which stand at 5.9 million deaths.
A statistical model was used to predict excess deaths for countries that didn’t report weekly or monthly data. Excess deaths were 9.5 times higher than reported in South Asia and 14.2 times higher in sub-Saharan Africa, the researchers found.
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The evidence suggests the mortality surge is a direct result of Covid-19, the researchers said. They also said, 'the study found that the prevalence of obesity and older age in a population were two of the biggest determinants of excess mortality.'