A major study released last week found that COVID-19 was one of the leading causes of death in 2020 and the leading cause of death in 2021 globally, ahead of even ischemic heart disease, which killed 8.9 million in 2019, and cancer, which killed 9.5 million in 2018.

The study was a follow-up on the World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group’s May 2022 report on excess deaths associated with COVID-19. The authors estimate that global excess deaths had reached 14.83 million by the end of 2021, a figure 2.74 times higher than the 5.42 million reported deaths due to COVID-19 for the period.