
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Almost 15 million people likely died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, nearly three times more than previously reported, a new World Health Organization study estimates.The researchers said the COVID-19 pandemic caused about 4.5 million more deaths than would have been expected in 2020, and 10.4 million more in 2021, according to the report published online Dec. 14 in the journal Nature.By comparison, heart disease was the leading worldwide cause of death in 2019 with nearly 9 million deaths.Based on these numbers, “we would expect COVID-19 to be among the leading causes of death in 2020 and the leading cause of death in 2021,†the study authors concluded.India, Russia, Indonesia, the United States, Brazil and Mexico...