COVID-19 deaths reach 4 million globally

On Wednesday, the world hit another grim milestone with 4 million COVID-19 deaths. While deaths have started to decline in countries such as the United States, the toll is starting to pick up in lower- and middle-income countries, with counts rising in the African region.

While it has taken less than three months to reach the 4 million deaths — with the world reaching 3 million deaths in April — experts including those from the World Health Organization, have said that the official death toll is likely an undercount.

“Our own estimates are that the true death toll [of COVID-19] is at least two to three times higher,” Soumya Swaminatha, WHO’s chief scientist, told Devex last month.

Countries accounting for the most deaths

During the period of April 9 to July 6, India accounted for almost a quarter of the deaths as it battled a deadly second wave in April that overwhelmed medical facilities across the country, and led to a massive appeal for oxygen.

Brazil remains the second country with the largest number of new deaths, accounting for 18% of the additional million deaths.

Mexico and Russia remain in the top 10 countries reporting additional COVID-19 deaths, although Mexico has seen a significant decline in deaths during the period of Jan. 16, with 65,905 deaths, to April 8, with 26,669.

Countries seeing a rise in cases, deaths

The more aggressive delta variant, first identified in India — now reported in 104 countries — is fueling a surge in cases in countries such as Bangladesh and Indonesia.

In the African region, a sharp increase in mortality — 23% — was recorded the past week. New deaths were highest in South Africa, Zambia, and Uganda, which reported 1,729, 430, and 325 additional deaths, respectively, accounting for a 46%, 16%, and 34% increase in reported mortality.

Cases and deaths in the region have been increasing for the past six weeks, with several countries in the region currently battling a surge in cases.

According to Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 African countries are currently dealing with a “very severe” third wave of COVID-19 infections, with 10 of those countries experiencing an “extremely aggressive” third wave.

Increased cases and deaths in Africa are causing huge concerns, prompting another round of calls from heads of international institutions for higher-income countries to hasten the sharing of doses, and for the G-20 to share an additional 2 billion to 3 billion doses. Africa continues to lag behind in vaccinations, with less than 2% of its population vaccinated.

It’s not the only region seeing a rise in cases, however. In the past week, COVID-19 cases and deaths increased by 30% and 6% in the European region; 11% and 2% in the eastern Mediterranean region; and 10% and 7% in the western Pacific region.

Three countries reported their first deaths during this period. Vanuatu reported its first COVID-19 death on April 21, Laos on May 9, and St. Kitts and Nevis on June 17.

In a tweet, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said there are more than 20 countries “with exponential growth in cases right now.…in all regions of the world,” but said the increase in cases is due to a number of factors, not just one.

Lisa Cornish contributed reporting to this article.