NEW YORK: The United States has now recorded more than 1 million COVID-19 deaths, according to a Reuters tally, crossing a once-unthinkable milestone about two years after the first cases upended everyday life and quickly transformed it.
The 1 million mark is a stark reminder of the staggering grief and loss caused by the pandemic even as the threat posed by the virus wanes in the minds of many people. It represents about one death for every 327 Americans, or more than the entire population of San Francisco or Seattle.
By the time the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, the virus had claimed 36 lives in the United States. In the months that followed, the deadly virus spread like wildfire, finding fertile ground in densely populated urban areas such as New York City and then reaching every corner of the country.
By June 2020, the U.S. death toll had surpassed the total of the country's military deaths in World War One and it would exceed the American military losses of War World Two by January 2021 when more than 405,000 deaths were recorded.
The disease has left few places on Earth untouched, with 6.7 million confirmed deaths globally. The true toll, including those who died of COVID-19 as well as those who perished as an indirect result of the outbreak, was likely closer to 15 million, the WHO said.
Some of the images associated with COVID death are forever burned in the collective mind of Americans: refrigerated trucks stationed outside hospitals overflowing with the dead; intubated patients in sealed-off intensive care units; exhausted doctors and nurses who battled through every wave of the virus.
Millions of Americans eagerly rolled up their sleeves to receive COVID vaccines after distribution began in late 2020. By early 2021, the virus had already claimed a staggering 500,000 lives.
At one point in January of that year, more people died from COVID-19 every day on average than were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
COVID-19 preyed on the elderly and those with compromised health, but it did not spare healthy youth either, killing more than 1,000 children. Researchers estimate 213,000 U.S. children lost at least one parent or primary caregiver during the pandemic, taking an immeasurable emotional toll.
While nestling in big cities, coronavirus has also ravaged rural communities with limited access to medical care.
The pandemic had a disproportionate impact on native communities and communities of color. It hit harder where people lived in congregate settings, such as prisons, and decimated entire families. It exposed inequalities deeply entrenched in U.S. society and set off a wave of change affecting most aspects of life in the United States.
With the COVID-19 threat subsiding after the Omicron wave last winter, many Americans have shed masks and returned to offices in recent weeks. Restaurants and bars are once again teeming with patrons, and the public's attention has shifted to inflation and economic concerns.
But researchers are already working on yet another booster shot as the virus continues to mutate.
"By no means is it over," said top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci at a recent event. "We still are experiencing a global pandemic."
TRACKING THE PANDEMIC
Trackng the COVID-19 pandemic is not an exact science. Reuters and the other organizations who make tallies are reaching 1 million U.S. deaths at different times. The variation is due to how each organization counts COVID deaths. For example, Reuters includes both confirmed and probable deaths where that data is available.
The precise toll of the pandemic may never be truly known. Some people who died while infected were never tested and do not appear in the data. Others, while having COVID-19, may have died for another reason, such as a cancer, but were still counted.
The CDC estimates that 1.1 million excess deaths have taken place since Feb. 1, 2020, mainly from COVID. Excess mortality is the increase in total number of deaths, from any cause, compared with previous years.
Reuters
Thu May 12 2022
Joseph Neufeld, Jr. looks over caskets of bodies at the Gerard J. Neufeld funeral home during the outbreak of the COVID-19, April 26, 2020 in the borough of Queens, New York. - REUTERS
Mohamed Khaled tiba di Indonesia untuk lawatan rasmi, dijadual bertemu Prabowo
Menteri Pertahanan tiba di Jakarta pada Ahad untuk lawatan kerja rasmi sulung beliau ke Indonesia sejak memegang jawatan itu.
'Tersentuh tengok golongan OKU penglihatan tunai umrah’ - Mohd Na’im
"Moga terkabul segala hajat sahabat-sahabat OKU penglihatan menunaikan ibadat umrah dan ziarah."
PM Anwar yakin terhadap IsDB dalam tangani ketidaksamaan, marginalisasi umat Islam
Bank itu mempunyai peranan untuk menangani isu ketidakadilan, ketidaksamaan dan marginalisasi terutamanya dalam kalangan umat Islam.
Harumanis antara tarikan utama Agrofiesta 2024
Mangga harumanis dan produk makanan berasaskan mangga antara tarikan utama pada penganjuran Agrofiesta 2024.
NIOSH sedia beri khidmat nasihat depani cabaran perubahan iklim
NIOSH bersedia memberikan khidmat nasihat serta rundingan bagi membantu kerajaan, majikan dan pekerja menghadapi cabaran berkaitan perubahan iklim.
Malaysia negara pertama terima visa haji
Malaysia menjadi negara pertama yang menerima pengeluaran visa haji daripada Kementerian Haji dan Umrah Arab Saudi bagi jemaah musim haji 1445H/2024.
Menteri Indonesia bincang isu pekerja migran dengan rakan sejawat dari Malaysia
Fauziyah harap Steven akan membawa penambahbaikan kepada dasar berkaitan tenaga kerja Indonesia.
Pahang peruntuk RM1.5 juta bantuan tunai bakal jemaah haji
Sebanyak 1,588 jemaah haji Pahang menerima sumbangan 'duit poket' berjumlah RM750 seorang bagi membantu meringankan beban bakal haji dalam melakukan persiapan melaksanakan rukun Islam kelima itu.
PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu: Pengundi jangan mudah percaya taktik fitnah - Ramanan
Ramanan berkata pengundi perlu lebih berhati-hati, dan sentiasa menyemak fakta apabila mendengar kempen politik yang dilakukan pihak lawan.
KEDA berhasrat tanam padi wangi, padi huma tahun ini
Lembaga Kemajuan Wilayah Kedah (KEDA) berhasrat membangunkan tanaman padi wangi dan padi huma di beberapa kawasan pertanian dalam wilayahnya, tahun ini.
COVID-19: Vaksin tetap beri perlindungan walau keberkesanan rendah terhadap mutasi baharu
Pakar penyakit berjangkit terkemuka Amerika Syarikat, Dr Anthony Fauci memberi saranan, bagi memastikan vaksin tersebut lebih berkesan, bilangan orang yang divaksin perlu ditingkatkan.
1MDB: Goldman Sachs potong pampasan tahunan CEOnya sebanyak RM70 juta
Lembaga syarikat turut mengekalkan gaji Solomon untuk tahun ini.
US poised to hit 16 million COVID-19 cases within days even as vaccine begins rollout
The United States is poised to hit a record 16 million COVID-19 cases in the coming days and deaths are closing in on the 300,000 mark.
Bintang US MasterChef Junior, Ben Watkins meninggal dunia pada usia 14 tahun
Bintang program realiti TV US MasterChef Junior, Ben Watkins dilaporkan meninggal dunia akibat penyakit kanser pada usia 14 tahun.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita antarabangsa yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
1MDB bayar US$681 juta kepada syarikat Aabar lain - Saksi
Shahrol Azral berkata pengarah juga tidak memberi sebarang persetujuan bagi pembayaran tersebut dikeluarkan daripada 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited kepada Aabar Seychelles.
Anak Beyonce, Blue Ivy tercalon Anugerah BET
Difahamkan, Blue Ivy Carter bakal bersaing bersama nama-nama tersohor yang lain seperti Lizzo, Alicia Keys, Lupita Nyongo, Missy Elliot, Ciara dan ramai lagi.
Insentif pemandu pelancong Johor cerminan keprihatinan kerajaan negeri
Pandemik COVID-19 telah melumpuhkan sektor pelancongan global dan Malaysia juga tidak terkecuali.
Bursa Malaysia di paras terendah sejak lebih 12 tahun
Bursa Malaysia mencecah tahap terendah pada 1,320.96 mata semasa dagangan Jumaat.
Jual pesawat khas presiden melalui loteri US$6 juta
Presiden Mexico yang baharu, Andres Manuel Lpez Obrador membuat kejutan apabila membuat pengumuman untuk menjual pesawat khas presiden melalui cabutan loteri.