WHO: Nearly 15 Million Deaths Linked to Covid Pandemic

Where are the highest excess mortality rates?

According to the WHO, 84 percent of the excess deaths were concentrated in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Some 10 countries alone accounted for 68 percent of all excess deaths.

Upper-middle-income nations accounted for 28 percent of the figure, lower-middle-income states 53 percent, and low-income countries 4 percent.

Meanwhile, high-income countries accounted for 15 percent of the excess mortality rate.

"This may seem like just a bean-counting exercise, but having these WHO numbers is so critical to understanding how we should combat future pandemics and continue to respond to this one," said Albert Ko, an infectious diseases specialist at the Yale School of Public Health who was not linked to the WHO research.

Source: AFP, AP