Peru, already one of the hardest hit nations in the world in terms of Covid deaths per million population, has announced that it is revising its official death count, based on the recommendation of a panel of Peruvian and World Health Organization experts. Earlier estimates significantly understated the actual number of deaths.
Health Minister Cesar Ugarte said Peru would immediately implement the methodology recommended by the group in order “to have a daily figure which more closely reflects the reality of what is happening with the pandemic in our country.” The government further announced that it had raised the death count from 69,342 to 180,764. That places Peru as having the highest coronavirus mortality per capita of any country, with 5,484 deaths per million inhabitants. Peru previously ranked 13th in the world with 2,103 deaths per million, according to AFP’s data. Hungary is in a distant second place with 3,077 deaths per million.
