COVID-19 continues to strengthen its hold on the United States. Total deaths from the virus are over 400,000 and counting.
As of Jan. 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 416,010 total deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. Total cases surpassed 25.1 million, according to The New York Times on Jan. 25.
“In the U.S., someone now dies from COVID-19 every 26 seconds,” National Public Radio reported on Jan. 19. “And the disease is now claiming more American lives each week than any other condition, ahead of heart disease and cancer, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be the deadliest year in U.S. history, according to the Associated Press.
“Preliminary numbers suggest that the United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths this year, or at least 400,000 more than in 2019,” the Associated Press reported.
Deaths in the U.S. increase every year, but the Associated Press also reported that the 2020 numbers are equal to at least a 15% rise.
“That would mark the largest single-year percentage leap since 1918, when tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers died in World War I and hundreds of thousands of Americans died in a flu pandemic,” the Associated Press reported. “Deaths rose 46% that year, compared with 1917.”
The COVID-19 death toll also surpasses all deaths from U.S. Service members in World War II. The battle and service deaths from 1941-1945 totaled 405,399, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In the Biden-Harris plan to beat COVID-19, the administration lists the steps that will be taken to combat this increasing death toll.
“President Biden believes that the federal government must act swiftly and aggressively to help protect and support our families, small businesses, first responders, and caregivers essential to help us face this challenge, those who are most vulnerable to health and economic impacts, and our broader communities – not to blame others or bail out corporations,” the White House reported.
