More than 1.5 million children around the world have lost a parent, grandparent, or other caregiver to COVID-19, according to the first global study of its kind.In the study, published yesterday in The Lancet, a team led by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientists used death and fertility data to model minimum estimated COVID-19–related deaths of primary or secondary caregivers of children 18 years and younger in 21 countries.
Indirect coronavirus deaths, such as those related to lockdowns or decreased access to medical care, were also included.The countries, which represent 77% of global COVID-19 deaths in 2020 and early 2021, were Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, England and Wales, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy,