Hidden Toll: Study Reveals Staggering Undercount of Early COVID-19 Deaths in US
A new study estimates the true COVID-19 death toll in the US was up to 16% higher than officially reported in 2020-2021, with tens of thousands of unrecognized deaths occurring outside hospitals.
A groundbreaking new study has shed light on the true scale of the COVID-19 pandemic's devastating impact in the United States. Researchers have estimated that the official death toll from the virus in the early stages of the outbreak was dramatically underreported, with as many as 155,000 additional deaths going uncounted.
The study, which utilized advanced artificial intelligence techniques, found that the reported 840,000 COVID-19 deaths in 2020 and 2021 likely represented only a fraction of the true toll. The researchers estimate that the actual number of deaths may have been as high as 995,000 - a staggering 16% higher than the official count.
These unrecognized deaths, the researchers say, were likely occurring outside of hospitals, and were not properly attributed to COVID-19 at the time. The findings shine a troubling light on the significant disparities and gaps in the way the pandemic's impact was being measured and reported in the United States.
