Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) have warned that the number of coronavirus-related deaths is probably much higher than recorded numbers, reports The New York Times. Peru is the first country to reckon with this reality.
Monday, the Peruvian Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez announced an updated death toll — almost three times the number previously announced, per The New York Times.
- Previously, Peru reported around 68,000 COVID-19 deaths, said CNN.
- Post-revision, Peru has now reported 180,764 deaths in a population of 33 million people, said The Washington Post.
The updated figures make Peru’s death rate the highest per capita in the world, said CNN.
Why did Peru revise the official tally of coronavirus deaths?
A panel of experts from Peru and the WHO convened in April to investigate the country’s methodology for counting virus-related fatalities, reports The Washington Post. The panel concluded that the methodology gave “an under-representation in the number of deaths due to COVID-19,” says Yahoo News.
The updated fatalities combined deaths from multiple databases previously left out of the official number, said The New York Times.
- Previously, Peru had the ninth-worst coronavirus death rate globally, with just over 200 deaths per 100,000 people, reported CNN.
- Now Peru’s death rate is more than 500 deaths per 100,000 people, said CNN.
- Hungary, the country with the second-highest mortality rate, has a rate of 305 deaths per 100,000 people, according CNN and Yahoo News.
- The U.S. has reported just over 180 deaths per 100,000 people, according to data from John Hopkins University.
The country is currently struggling under another wave of outbreaks that began in January and has strained the country’s medical system, reported CNN.
What is Peru’s new methodology for counting virus-related deaths?
Monday Peru’s prime minister announced a new method for keeping coronavirus records, reports Yahoo News.
- Previously, the official tally only used positive test results, says The Washington Post.
- Now, the tally has broadened to include people who had not tested positive but had a link to a confirmed COVID-19 case and fit the clinical description of the virus, says Yahoo News.
According to The New York Times, Peru may be the first of many countries to revise their coronavirus figures as the full impact of the pandemic becomes clearer.