Yesterday saw the tally of global deaths from covid-19 pass the five million mark. This is a staggering number. The number of people who have been infected is close to 250 million, which is over 3% of the world’s population.
These are likely to be undercounts since they depend upon accurate diagnosis and reporting. We may have to wait for a more accurate count of deaths when they calculate the excess mortality. By comparing the number of deaths during the period of the pandemic and subtracting from it the number of people who died during a similar period before the pandemic, that will give us a different, and hopefully more accurate, estimate.
Modi’s government in India excluded from the counts anyone who died outside of hospitals. The actual total could be millions more.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/07/20/1018438334/indias-pandemic-death-toll-estimated-at-about-4-million-10-times-the-official-co
India is not alone.
https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid
There are also cases like my brother-in-law’s father (back in India): They begged and got the to give the death certificate omitting covid from the cause, because then they would get to cremate him quickly without having to wait in days-long line of covid cremations. He was about 80 or so, but he died within days of testing positive for covid, of covid related complications.