25M CASES LATER
One year after virus hit U.S., grim numbers still rise
The U.S. surpassed 25 million COVID infections Sunday, the most of any country by far.
More than 417,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That death toll is almost twice as high as that of any other nation.
The U.S. recorded its 20 millionth case New Year’s Day, meaning the country has added 5 million new cases in just over three weeks. Scientists expect the case count and death toll to continue rapidly increasing in coming days.
“By the middle of February, we expect half a million deaths in this country,” the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said last Tuesday, when the U.S. death toll hit 400,000.
As of Saturday, about one in every 13 Americans had tested positive for the virus and one in every 800 had died from COVID-19. The American infection count is now higher than the entire population of Taiwan.
Two vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, have been available in the U.S. since late December, and more than 3 million people have been inoculated against the virus, according to CDC data. An additional 14 million have received the first of two required shots.
The global case count was approaching 100 million when the U.S. recorded its 25 millionth case and was just below 98.9 million Sunday. The true number of infections worldwide is likely much higher, due to a lack of testing and underreporting.
More than 2.1 million people have died from COVID-19 throughout the world. Brazil has recorded the second-most deaths with 216,000. India has the third-highest official death toll at 153,000.