The United States on Sunday hit the half-a-million mark for the number of lives claimed by Covid-19, NBC News reports.
Nearly a year since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, 100,000 Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. was the low estimate. Early on, cities such as New York and Chicago were hit hard, particularly in communities of color. Then, hot spots in nursing homes and meatpacking plants began to emerge as the virus hit suburban and rural communities.
The death toll in the U.S. would eventually eclipse that of every other country, and has claimed many more lives since then.
The coronavirus has killed more than 2,462,000 people worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than a fifth of all deaths worldwide have occurred in the the US, which has less than five percent of the global population.
President Joe Biden last month warned that "well over" 600,000 people in the US could die from the virus.
"It's terrible. It is historic. We haven't seen anything even close to this for well over a hundred years, since the 1918 pandemic of influenza," Biden's chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci told NBC's "Meet The Press."
"It's something that is stunning when you look at the numbers, almost unbelievable, but it's true," Fauci added.
Meanwhile India, the world's second worst-hit nation in terms of infections, passed a bleak threshold yesterday by registering its 11 millionth case following a renewed rise in cases.
Fresh restrictions on gatherings came into force in the western state of Maharashtra, home to financial capital Mumbai, which has logged almost 52,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said he was "worried about the severity of a second wave if it hits the state."
The vast nation's inoculation drive is creeping slowly, and India's Serum Institute -- the world's biggest vaccine maker -- has urged other countries to be "patient," saying it has been told to prioritise the home market.
In the capital New Delhi, vegetable vendor Radhekrishna Negi spoke for many around the world, telling AFP: "I am fed up of corona."
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 61 million people have received at least one shot of vaccine in the United States, with some 18 million getting the full two doses.
Biden has made it a priority to get 100 million people vaccinated within the first 100 days of his administration.
