Centre Rejects Study Claiming Covid Deaths 8 Times More Than Official Count

Coronavirus: "Such predictions are founded on certain set of inputs either based on real-world scenarios, or approximations of those (which may vary in accuracy according to the technique used) inputs that are not available," stated the ministry.

The Government of India on Friday dismissed a recently published article in a "reputed international journal" that provided estimates of all-cause excess mortality for a number of countries based on a mathematical modelling exercise and said that the report is "speculative" and "misinformed."

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a statement issued today said that the study has concluded that although reported COVID-19 deaths between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, totalled 5.94 million worldwide, but an estimated 18.2 million (95 per cent uncertainty interval 17.1-19.6) people died worldwide because of the COVID-19 pandemic (as measured by excess mortality) over that period.

This is yet another estimate on excess mortality due to COVID-19 by another set of researchers, said the ministry.

"Mathematical modelling techniques are essentially process of creating a mathematical representation of a real-world scenario to make a prediction. Such predictions are founded on certain set of inputs either based on real-world scenarios, or approximations of those (which may vary in accuracy according to the technique used) inputs that are not available," stated the ministry.