Global Health About 10.5 million children worldwide experienced COVID-19-associated loss of parents and caregivers through May 1, 2022, according to estimates based on World Health Organization (WHO) data. Using excess deaths data from WHO, I The Economist i , and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), researchers estimated the number of bereft children in every country to measure COVID-19's effect on orphanhood and caregiver loss.