Peru's COVID-19 death toll highest in the world on per-capita basis

Peru on Monday nearly tripled its official COVID-19 mortality rate to 180,764, the new government data revealed on Monday. According to Johns Hopkins University, the country has the worst death toll per capita. Peru has been one of the hardest-hit countries in Latin America due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with its hospitals overcrowded with patients and the demand for oxygen exceeding availability. Experts have long warned that the actual death toll is minimised in official statistics. The government has said it will now update its death toll, which stood at 69,342 from Sunday, partly due to a lack of inspections making it difficult to confirm whether someone died from the virus or some other cause.

According to Johns Hopkins data, Hungary had COVID-19 deaths per capita with about 300 per 100,000 people. With its updated death toll, Peru now stands at more than 500 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people.

"We think it is our duty to disclose this updated information," Peruvian Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez told a news conference announcing the results of the review.

In Latin America, Brazil has the highest total death toll, with more than 450,000 lives lost due to the pandemic. However, based on population, Peru is doubling more than Brazil, according to the data.

Peru's updated numbers are in line with the so-called excess mortality rates, which researchers in Peru and other countries have used to measure possible undercutting during the pandemic.

Excessive deaths measure the total number of deaths over a period of time and compare it to the same period before the pandemic.