Coronavirus: At least 7,000 healthcare workers have died globally

The global toll of healthcare worker deaths due to COVID-19 has reached at least 7,000.

According to an analysis by Amnesty International, Mexico is the country hardest hit with 1,320 healthcare workers confirmed to have died. Countries who have botched their response to the disease also have a high number of healthcare worker deaths due to the disease with 1,077 in the U.S. and 634 in Brazi.

Meanwhile, large numbers of healthcare worker deaths of COVID-19 are being seen in countries which are starting to see infection rates surge in recent months like South Africa, with 240 deaths, and India, with 573 deaths, the analysis says.

“For over seven thousand people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale. Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a scandal that so many are paying the ultimate price,” Steve Cockburn, head of economic and social justice at Amnesty International, says in the analysis. “Many months into the pandemic, health workers are still dying at horrific rates in countries such as Mexico, Brazil and the USA, while the rapid spread of infections in South Africa and India show the need for all states to take action.”

Cockburn says there must be cooperation across the globe to ensure that healthcare workers have the equipment they need to care for patients while staying safe themselves.

Strikingly, a July report by the organization identified only 3,000 global healthcare worker deaths due to COVID-19. The analysis says the new data is driven by the increasing rates of COVID-19 infections and availability of new data sources.

The countries identified as having the highest estimated death numbers for healthcare workers are:

• Mexico (1,320)
• U.S. (1,077)
• UK (649)
• Brazil (634)
• Russia (631)
• India (573)
• South Africa (240)
• Peru (183)
• Indonesia (181)
• Iran (164)
• Egypt (159)