fficial data on the number of deaths directly or indirectly related to the COVID-19 pandemic is likely significantly underreported, the World Health Organization said, saying 6-8 million people may have died from the coronavirus so far, Reuters reported.

Introducing the annual report on global health statistics, the WHO estimates that the total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was at least 3 million last year, or 1.2 million more than was officially reported.

By May 2021, an estimated 3.4 million people had died as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official UN agency estimates.

WHO data analyst William Msemburi noted that this estimate includes both unreported deaths from COVID-19 and indirect deaths due to a lack of hospitals and travel restrictions, among other factors. The problem is that the reported COVID-19 [death toll] figures do not account for this full impact, Msemburi noted.