U.S. COVID toll passes 350,000

More than 350,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and health officials worry that grim number is going to keep spiking.

The U.S. hit the deadly landmark early Sunday morning, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. More than 20 million people have been infected in the U.S., which has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases and virus deaths of any country.

Brazil, the country with the second-most deaths, has reported just over 195,000 fatalities.

President Trump on Sunday denied the U.S. virus death toll is as high as reported by officials.

“The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus V is far exaggerated in the United States because of o @CDCgov’s ridiculous method of determination compared c to other countries, many of whom report, ppurposely, very inaccuratey and low,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “‘When in doubt, call it Covid.’ Fake News!”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, th he nation’s top infectious disease expert, shared a different message.

“The deaths are real deaths,” Fauci told ABC on Sunday. “That’s not fake.”

The new record comes s multiple states, includn ng North Carolina and Arizona, have reported aandemic- high daily cases innce the start of the new eear. California is beginning to run out of ICU beds in several counties.

New York surpassed 1 million cases Friday, making it the fourth state to do so after California, Florida and Texas.

The rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines has been criticized for its slow progress, with about 13 million doses distributed and 4.2 million people having received their first shot. The Trump administration had previously predicted there’d be 20 million first doses by the end of December.

“These cases are having an impact in an array of ways and people need to understand there is a finish line in sight, but we have to keep running towards it,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on CNN Sunday morning.

Fauci spoke about the vaccine distribution on Sunday with NBC, saying, “We’ve got to do much better.”