Global Covid-19 deaths surpass 6 million

Bodies are moved to a refrigerator truck serving as a temporary morgue outside of Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn in New York. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP) (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
[cnn.com – 2022.03.07] The global Covid-19 death toll surpassed 6 million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Global daily deaths have been dropping quickly over the past month, down from about 11,000 a day in the second week of February to about 7,000 a day now — one of the lowest rates reported over the past year.

But the loss is still immense, with about 1 million deaths recorded over the past four months.

About 1 in every 1,300 people globally has died of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, and experts have said official death tolls are likely an undercount.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted on Sunday that it’s “too early to declare victory” over Covid-19.

“Many countries are facing high rates of hospitalization & death. With high transmission, the threat of a new, more dangerous variant remains real. We urge all people to exercise caution and all governments to stay the course,” he said.

The United States has reported more Covid-19 deaths than any other country — about 960,000 total — but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the true death toll for the country is about 32% higher.

Along with the US, Brazil, Russia and Mexico have reported the most Covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

To date, there have been 446 million reported cases of Covid-19 globally, according to JHU.