One in 500 Americans Dies from COVID-19... "The Worst Pandemic in History"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 1st (local time) that the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States has surpassed 700,000.

The 700,000 deaths represent 0.21% of the total U.S. population of 331.4 million (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), meaning that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in every 500 Americans has died from the virus.

The NYT noted that just a few months ago, when vaccines were being widely distributed to Americans, very few experts anticipated such an outcome.

In the U.S., from the end of June, the fourth resurgence caused by the Delta variant began, leading to a sharp increase in confirmed cases and deaths. As a result, the COVID-19 crisis has become the worst pandemic in American history, the NYT pointed out.

The cumulative death toll has surpassed approximately 675,000 deaths from the 1918?1919 Spanish flu pandemic, which was previously the deadliest pandemic in U.S. history.

Since mid-June, three months after all adults became eligible for vaccination, 100,000 deaths have occurred. The NYT stated, "The United States was one of the countries with the highest recent death tolls among those with abundant vaccine supplies."

However, the NYT analyzed that the deaths in the recent three and a half months were concentrated in the southern U.S. states such as Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, where vaccination rates lagged, and the age groups affected were younger than before, showing a different pattern from earlier deaths.

For example, by age group, the highest number of deaths among those aged 55 and under occurred in August since the pandemic began.

Over the past year and a half, waves of the coronavirus have surged and receded repeatedly, causing the speed of deaths to accelerate and decelerate repeatedly.

According to NYT statistics, it took 89 days from the first COVID-19 death in the U.S. on February 29 last year to reach 100,000 cumulative deaths.

It then took 118 days to reach 200,000 deaths, 83 days to reach 300,000, but only 36 days and 34 days to reach 400,000 and 500,000 deaths respectively. This period was the peak of COVID-19 in the U.S. last winter.

It took 114 days to go from 500,000 to 600,000 deaths. This was when vaccine distribution was in full swing and many people were getting vaccinated. Upon surpassing 700,000 deaths on the 1st, an additional 100,000 lives were lost in 107 days.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.