Tuberculosis killed roughly 1.5 million people in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, up from 1.4 million in 2019. And researchers say COVID is to blame.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of progress and efforts in the fight against tuberculosis," says Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, head of WHO's global TB program. Speaking at a news conference as WHO released its annual Global Tuberculosis Report, Kasaeva said that COVID lockdowns, limited access to health care and patients' concerns about visiting medical clinics made TB far more deadly during the pandemic.

COVID-19 has "severely impacted access to essential TB services," Kasaeva says. "With far fewer people being diagnosed and treated or provided with TB preventive treatment in 2020 compared with 2019."

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