Covid-19 death toll to rise up to 5.3 million by the end of 2021

By December, the number of lives lost to Covid-19 is estimated to reach 5.3 million and 12 million excess fatalities, according to the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. 

A report published on Friday by the US-based institute revealed that they are expecting deaths to peak starting from the beginning of September due to the delta variant. The institute's study included both officially reported Covid-19 deaths as well as excess death attributed to the illness including unreported fatalities, reports Bloomberg. 

Until now, there have been 4.3 million reported deaths during the pandemic, says the World Health Organization. 

The delta variant is said to have viral loads that are 1200 times higher in those who are newly infected than the original coronavirus strain; it has the ability to spread as easily as chickenpox. 

This variant, first discovered in India, has also shown more resistance to vaccines than the alpha variant which was discovered in England in 2020.