Death toll at start of Covid-19 pandemic likely higher than US count, study says

"About 840,000 Covid-19 deaths were reported on death certificates in 2020 and 2021. But a group of researchers using a form of artificial intelligence estimate that as many as 155,000 unrecognized additional deaths likely occurred in that time outside of hospitals. That would mean about 16% of Covid-19 deaths went uncounted in those years."

"The undiagnosed dead were more likely to be Hispanic people and other people of color, who had died in the first few months of the pandemic, and who had been in certain states in the south and south-west including Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina."

"While hospital patients were routinely tested for Covid-19, many who grew sick and died outside of hospitals were not tested often because at-home testing was not readily available early in the pandemic, said one of the study's authors, the University of Minnesota's Elizabeth Wrigley-Field."

A new study using artificial intelligence estimates that approximately 155,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred outside hospitals and went unrecognized during 2020-2021, beyond the 840,000 officially reported deaths. This represents roughly 16% of total pandemic deaths. The research reveals significant disparities in undercounting, with undiagnosed deaths disproportionately affecting Hispanic people and other communities of color, particularly in early pandemic months across southern and southwestern states including Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. Limited access to testing outside hospitals, lack of standardized death investigation protocols across jurisdictions, and varying coroner qualifications contributed to undercounting. Barriers to healthcare access and testing continue affecting marginalized populations six years after the pandemic began.

Read at www.theguardian.com