US DEATH TOLL FROM COVID-19 TOPS 800,000

Wed 15 December 2021:

According to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the United States has surpassed 800,000 people.

According to data released on Tuesday, it is the highest reported national death toll since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The United States accounts for approximately 4% of the world’s population but accounts for approximately 15% of the 5.3 million known deaths from the coronavirus since its discovery in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

“As we mark the tragic milestone of 800,000 American deaths due to Covid-19, we remember each person and the lives they lived, and we pray for the loved ones left behind,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

“As we head into the winter and confront a new variant, we must resolve to keep fighting this virus together,” he said.

The majority of the deaths in the US were recorded among unvaccinated people.

The next highest are Brazil, with more than 616,000 deaths, and India, which has had over 475,000 deaths.

The bleak milestone was reached as the country braces for winter amid the spread of the Omicron variant, which experts believe may be more contagious than previous strains of the virus.

The United States is now in its fifth wave, with the epicentre in colder northern states as people gather indoors more frequently.

Omicron, which has caused worldwide concern since it was first reported in South Africa in late November, now accounts for about 3% of US cases, but that figure is expected to rise rapidly, as it has in other countries.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

Photo: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and legislators participate in a moment of silence for the 800,000 American lives lost to COVID-19

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