Global coronavirus death toll is double official estimates, analysis suggests Roughly 6.9 million people have died from Covid-19, experts say, a figure expected to hit 9.4 million by September 7 May 2021 • 1:21pm A worker walks near pyres for cremating the bodies of victims who died after contracting Covid-19 on the banks of the Ganges river in India Credit: Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images Across the globe roughly 6.9 million people have died from Covid-19, according to a new analysis which suggests the death toll is twice as high as official reports. The report, published by scientists at the University of Washington’s renowned Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), found that fatalities are vastly undercounted worldwide due to patchy testing and overwhelmed health systems.