A recent article in the New York Times said number of people who died due to covid around the world is far more than the official figures. It said that the World Health Organization's year-long effort to  "calculate the global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has found that vastly more people died than previously believed — a total of about 15 million by the end of 2021". It claimed that a vast majority of these deaths goes "are estimated to have occurred in India...The WHO will show the country’s toll is at least four million, according to people familiar with the numbers". Another report published in Devex made similar claims. The Centre has disputed these claims and said that they are holding discussions with the WHO on the matter. Deputy Editor Jyothi Datta talks to V Nivedita about what we can learn from the Covid mortality numbers.