Governments have undercounted the COVID-19 death toll by millions, the WHO says

A mass cremation of people who died from from COVID-19 in New Delhi, India on April 28, 2021. A new WHO report on "excess deaths" compares their calculations with official numbers and finds millions more people died that the government-provided global total, with India a key example. India disputes the WHO finding and stands by its lower numbers. (Imtiyaz Khan / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The COVID-19 pandemic directly or indirectly caused 14.9 million deaths in 2020 and 2021, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, in its newest attempt to quantify the outbreak's terrible toll.

That's around 2.7 times more than the 5.42 million COVID-19 deaths the WHO says were previously reported through official channels in the same 2-year period.