This is the first-time availability of these comprehensive data on excess deaths for every country, and it enabled the data modelers to update global minimum estimates of pandemic orphanhood and caregiver death among children based on these excess deaths. Excess deaths are typically defined as the difference between the observed numbers of deaths in specific time periods and expected numbers of deaths in the same time periods. Estimates of excess deaths can provide information about the burden of mortality potentially related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including deaths that are directly or indirectly attributed to COVID-19. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were an estimated 140 million orphaned children worldwide. The orphanhood calculator provides nearly real-time estimates of the number of children affected by COVID-19 and excess deaths during the pandemic.
