The official death toll of Covid-19 200,000 worldwide. While that number has been used to gauge the impact of Covid-19, it may not provide a complete picture.

This week I spoke with Dr. Satchit Balsari—an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Balsari was one of several researchers who set out to determine the death toll n Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. His team estimated that thousands of deaths were not reflected in the official count. Many of these deaths were due to interrupted medical care and delayed treatment.

It’s a trend we’re seeing now, as more and more people forgo routine medical care to avoid overcrowded hospitals.

So what are the consequences of this? Do we really know how many people have died because of Covid-19?

On this episode of the podcast, Dr. Balsari explains why the death toll has been under-reported and who has been left uncounted.