Johns Hopkins is almost there, but NBC/MSNBC has reached one million COVID deaths today.....
Covid's toll in the U.S. reaches a once unfathomable number: 1 million deaths
"It's an exponential number of other people that are walking around with a small hole in their heart," one widow said.
Registered nurse Bryan Hofilena attaches a "COVID PATIENT" sticker on the body bag of a deceased patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 14.
The U.S. on Wednesday surpassed 1 million Covid-19 deaths, according to data compiled by NBC News — a once unthinkable scale of loss even for the country with the world's highest recorded toll from the virus.
The number — equivalent to the population of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. — was reached at stunning speed: 27 months after the country confirmed its first case of the virus.
"Each of those people touched hundreds of other people," said Diana Ordonez, whose husband, Juan Ordonez, died in April 2020 at age 40, five days before their daughter Mia's fifth birthday. "It's an exponential number of other people that are walking around with a small hole in their heart."
While deaths from Covid have slowed in recent weeks, about 360 people have still been dying every day. The casualty count is far higher than what most people could have imagined in the early days of the pandemic, particularly because then-President Donald Trump repeatedly downplayed the virus while in office.
"This is their new hoax," Trump said of Democrats in front of a cheering crowd at a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 28, 2020. "So far we have lost nobody to coronavirus."
A day later, health officials in Washington made the inevitable announcement: a coronavirus patient in their state had died.
Refrigerated trucks functioning as temporary morgues at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 6, 2020.
Now, more than two years and 999,999 fatalities later, the U.S. death toll is the world's highest total by a significant margin, figures show. In a distant second is Brazil, which has recorded just over 660,000 confirmed Covid deaths.
Dr. Christopher Murray, who heads the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said although this milestone has been looming, "the fact that so many have died is still appalling."
And the toll continues to mount.
"This is far from over," Murray said.
Each death causes a ripple of lasting pain. Diana Ordonez's husband worked in information security management and had just gotten promoted before he died. When he wasn't working, he loved to be with his family.
CONTINUED:
Covid's toll in U.S. reaches 1 million deaths, a once unfathomable number (nbcnews.com)
Covid's toll in the U.S. reaches a once unfathomable number: 1 million deaths
"It's an exponential number of other people that are walking around with a small hole in their heart," one widow said.
Registered nurse Bryan Hofilena attaches a "COVID PATIENT" sticker on the body bag of a deceased patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 14.
The U.S. on Wednesday surpassed 1 million Covid-19 deaths, according to data compiled by NBC News — a once unthinkable scale of loss even for the country with the world's highest recorded toll from the virus.
The number — equivalent to the population of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. — was reached at stunning speed: 27 months after the country confirmed its first case of the virus.
"Each of those people touched hundreds of other people," said Diana Ordonez, whose husband, Juan Ordonez, died in April 2020 at age 40, five days before their daughter Mia's fifth birthday. "It's an exponential number of other people that are walking around with a small hole in their heart."
While deaths from Covid have slowed in recent weeks, about 360 people have still been dying every day. The casualty count is far higher than what most people could have imagined in the early days of the pandemic, particularly because then-President Donald Trump repeatedly downplayed the virus while in office.
"This is their new hoax," Trump said of Democrats in front of a cheering crowd at a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 28, 2020. "So far we have lost nobody to coronavirus."
A day later, health officials in Washington made the inevitable announcement: a coronavirus patient in their state had died.
Refrigerated trucks functioning as temporary morgues at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 6, 2020.
Now, more than two years and 999,999 fatalities later, the U.S. death toll is the world's highest total by a significant margin, figures show. In a distant second is Brazil, which has recorded just over 660,000 confirmed Covid deaths.
Dr. Christopher Murray, who heads the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said although this milestone has been looming, "the fact that so many have died is still appalling."
And the toll continues to mount.
"This is far from over," Murray said.
Each death causes a ripple of lasting pain. Diana Ordonez's husband worked in information security management and had just gotten promoted before he died. When he wasn't working, he loved to be with his family.
CONTINUED:
Covid's toll in U.S. reaches 1 million deaths, a once unfathomable number (nbcnews.com)
