US records 1M+ covid deaths till date

The White House US passed more than one million Covid deaths. President Joe Biden stated that the country marked a tragic milestone. However, the World Health Organization believes the true covid death toll may become much higher elsewhere.

The US recorded more than 80 million Covid cases. The first confirmed case was reported on 20 January 2020. Public health experts gave several reasons for the high US death toll. This includes high rates of obesity and hypertension and overworked hospital systems.

The US saw the number of daily reported deaths spike on several occasions. This was often coming as new variants spread across the country.

The first wave was the initial pandemic which saw highs of more than 2,500 daily reported deaths in April 2020. It was about eight months before the first vaccines rolled out in December.

Dr. Mark Cameron is an associate professor in the department of population and quantitative health sciences at Case Western University in Ohio. He told BBC, “The dangerous surges, where our hospitals were full, and new deaths were overwhelming, have all come on the heels of new variants.

The highest death got reported in California. About 90,000 people lost their lives. California followed closely by Texas (about 86,000), Florida (about 74,000), and New York (about 68,000).

CDC data shows that Mississippi suffered about 418 deaths per 100,000 residents, followed by Arizona (414), Alabama (399), and West Virginia (384).

Covid deaths reported across all age and ethnic groups. However, experts note that certain sectors of the population suffered more.

Government data shows the vast majority of Covid deaths, about 740,000, were among those older than 65. In addition, public health experts cite reasons for vaccine hesitancy.

The death toll from Covid-19 now officially exceeds one million. However, the indirect toll of the virus is likely to be far higher. A study published in the journal PLOS Medicine finds that for every 100 deaths directly assigned, there are another 20 excess deaths.

Credits: BBC