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Covid-19 deaths much higher than official figures, claims report

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3 years ago

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Covid-19 deaths much higher than official figures, claims report

Official figures show that more than 55 million people have lost their lives to the viral disease since the Covid-19 pandemic began in late 2019. But a new study published in the journal Nature claims the actual toll could be many times higher.

There has been debate over whether countries hide their actual Covid-19 death tolls to protect their image on global platforms.

The report, published in the journal Nature, considered machine learning methods used by The Economist in London. It found some problems with data collection and claimed that the actual death toll could be double and quadruple the official Covid-19 figure.

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The Nature report cites examples of how countries around the world are reporting Covid-19 victims. In the Netherlands, the government, in the early stages of the pandemic, counted only those patients who died in hospital after being infected, it said.

Belgium, on the other hand, included deaths from severe colds and Covid-19 without testing patients, the report said. Death tolls remain high in rich countries while low in poor countries, the report said. But it further said that an analysis of the World Mortality Dataset (WMD) of 116 countries showed poorer countries had fewer deaths.

According to data modelling, the actual Covid-19 death toll in wealthy countries could be as high as a third of current figures. Meanwhile, in poor countries, the actual death toll could be 20 times higher than current figures.

The WHO may soon release its first assessment of the death toll, the report said. The opinion of several experts concluded that in order to estimate the actual number of Covid-19 deaths, it is necessary to compare the number of deaths that occurred in the five years before the pandemic with the current period.

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The report also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic was the largest since the Spanish flu that spread between 1918-20.

According to the WMD model, more than 300,000 patients in Russia have died from Covid-19 by the end of 2021. However, the excess death toll could exceed 1 million during this period.

Over 100 countries, including China, India and several countries in Africa, lack estimates of excess deaths from weapons of mass destruction. Nature reports that this is due to their government not collecting death data or publishing death data quickly.

However, these countries have also killed millions of people due to Covid-19.

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India was hit hard by last year’s second wave of Covid-19, with more than 487,000 deaths reported since the pandemic began. However, the above-mentioned model used by The Economist estimates about 5 million deaths in the country.

Likewise, in China, the epicenter of Covid-19, the Economist’s model estimates more than 750,000 deaths in total, 150 times the official figure of 4,600.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times

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Tollywood

HT Rewind 2024: Teja Sajja says HanuMan kicking off the year in style is the moment he’d been ‘waiting for’ | Exclusive

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1 day ago

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December 21, 2024

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HT Rewind 2024: Teja Sajja says HanuMan kicking off the year in style is the moment he’d been ‘waiting for’ | Exclusive

In conversation with Hindustan Times, Teja Sajja decodes the success of HanuMan and other Telugu films, talks about his upcoming projects, and more.
When Prasanth Varma’s superhero film HanuMan, starring Teja Sajja, was announced to be released alongside big films like Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram, Venkatesh’s Saindhav and Nagarjuna’s Naa Saami Ranga in January this year, no one expected the underdog to emerge on top. And yet, the film, made on a budget of under ₹50 crore, managed to collect over ₹300 crore at the box office worldwide in 25 days, becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films for the year. (Also Read: Ranveer Singh met HanuMan actor Teja Sajja, complimented him even after his Prasanth Varma film Rakshas got shelved)

Ask Teja about the moment he realised his film had not just fought against the tide but also risen to the top; he tells Hindustan Times in an exclusive conversation, “Since I returned to acting (as a lead actor after being a child artiste since 1998), this is the moment I’ve been waiting for. When everything from the HanuMan teaser to the songs was grabbing attention, we knew we had hit a gold mine. But I don’t think we imagined it would cross the ₹300 crore threshold. We were so satisfied with the opening numbers; everything else was a bonus.”

‘Success has given me fear of disappointing people’

Teja acted in Zombie Reddy, Ishq and Adbhutham before HanuMan, but they are what you would call ‘critical successes’, adding to his repertoire as an actor who can perform. But things have changed for him now, says Teja, who is being picky about the roles he says yes to. “Success either makes you overconfident or gives you the fear of disappointing people; I have the latter,” he explains.

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Teja admits he wants to chart out his career in Hrithik Roshan’s footsteps, but not in the way you think. “I have such a fondness for Hrithik due to Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. No matter how well he performed after that, these left a lasting impression on me; I’m sure 90s kids will agree,” he says, adding, “Similarly, I’ve realised that I have an audience in children now. I want to be conscious of that when I pick roles. I want to make films families can enjoy together.”

But despite people in places like Mumbai or Delhi recognising him, Teja says he’s clear that he wants to cater to the Telugu audience first. “I am conscious that I am making films for my playground – the Telugu states. This is the sensibility I have grown up with, and I don’t know if I can cater to everyone else. Will I promote my films in other languages? Sure. But I also can’t be part of films that aren’t authentic to what I know or understand,” he explains.

‘Rootedness has put us on the world map’

And authenticity seems to be the need of the hour. Be it Baahubali and RRR or the recently released Pushpa 2: The Rule, Kalki 2898 AD and Devara: Part 1, certain kind of stories seem to be finding success. “Rootedness and going local is proving to be such a boon for us, be it in Devara or Pushpa or HanuMan. Kalki 2898 AD was our version of a Hollywood film (the sci-fi concept) with actors from across languages in predominant roles; it put us on the world map,” reflects Teja.

However, the actor admits Tollywood went through a phase of Bollywood-inspired rom-coms and family dramas that worked in their favour for a while. “That wasn’t easy to replicate either, but it’s just that these local stories are what the audience seems most interested in now. It can’t just be chalked up to religion, too. It’s about the morals these films are hinged on, the fighting for righteousness, and how an underdog can find their strength. Introducing Mahabharata or Ramayana to a new audience in a cool way is just a perk,” he says.

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And it’s this rootedness that Teja says his next films, Mirai and Jai Hanuman (the sequel to HanuMan), will also have ample of. “Mirai is also a superhero film that caters to kids, but it’s not an origin story like HanuMan. It has a pan-Asian and Buddhist touch because the story is based on King Ashoka’s ideologies. I hope that I will get to deliver something new to the audience again. I will only feel like I’ve arrived if Mirai is equally, if not more, successful,” says Teja.

Rishab Shetty will headline Jai Hanuman, but Teja also looks forward to shooting that. “I can’t wait to be on that set; it’ll be exciting. Now that we know India is ready to watch our films, I want to step it up. I want to shift gears and shoot for at least two films in 2025,” he says. As for what he will do next, Teja says he wants to up the ante. “When I got a SIIMA award for Zombie Reddy as a debutant, I remember telling Prasanth this would be the last award I get. But now that I won a Radio City Cine Award for Best Actor, I hope more awards will follow,” he signs off cheekily.

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