Global Daily COVID-19 Deaths Near 10,000... Due to Peru's Batch Reporting

Novel Coronavirus Infection Virus / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] On the 24th, the daily death toll from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) worldwide approached 10,000.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S., as of 6 p.m. that day, the total number of COVID-19 deaths worldwide reached 633,605, an increase of 9,947 compared to 24 hours earlier.

Although the number of COVID-19 deaths has increased recently in the U.S. and other countries, the daily death toll had remained in the 6,000 range. The number of deaths on the previous day (the 23rd) was 6,673.

However, the sudden rise in the daily death toll to nearly 10,000 on the 24th was not due to a surge in deaths across multiple countries, but rather because Peru's statistical authorities aggregated a large number of deaths at once during their data compilation process.

Peru reported 3,947 deaths on that day, compared to only 128 the day before.

A similar phenomenon occurred earlier in New York City, USA. Previously, New York City aggregated about 4,000 "probable deaths" at once?people who died without having been tested for COVID-19 but whose death certificates listed COVID-19 as the cause?resulting in a significant increase in the daily death toll.