Covid: Peru more than doubles death toll after review
Peru has more than doubled its Covid death toll following a review, making it the country with the world's highest death rate per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The official death toll is now more than 180,000, up from 69,342, in a country of about 33 million people.
Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez said the number was increased on the advice of Peruvian and international experts.
This was in line with so-called excess deaths figures.
[...]
The official number of Covid deaths now stands at 180,764, a huge increase on the previous official figure of 69,342.
That makes more than 500 Covid deaths per 100,000 people, overtaking Hungary with 300 per 100,000.
In comparison, neighbouring Colombia, with a larger population than Peru, has registered 88,282 deaths.
Brazil has one of the world's highest death tolls with more than 460,000, but in a country of more than 211 million.
The revised figure for Covid-19 related deaths shows they were right to be doubtful. In fact, the government has admitted the real number is more than twice the previous figure.
A government working group of experts, formed to analyse Peru's data, published the revised figures after establishing broader criteria by which deaths from coronavirus were recorded.
Now that the narrower definition has been abandoned, the country's per capita death toll is in fact much higher than Brazil's.
Such a figure coincides more closely to the anecdotal evidence coming from hospitals and intensive care units across the country and with the images of cemeteries struggling to find space for the high number of burials each day.
Meanwhile, the process of vaccination has been slow and beset with difficulties across most of South America.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57307861.amp
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Damn what an increase. Now on the top spot of Covid deaths per person with a huge gap between it and Hungary.
I wonder who would be on top if every country accounted for all the excess deaths...
