The US Coronavirus death toll has surpassed 100,000 in less than four months since the case was reported in Washington on January 21 – By BBC News
It has seen more fatalities than any other country, while its 1.69 million confirmed infections account for about 30% of the worldwide total.
Globally there have been 5.6 million people recorded as infected and 354,983 deaths since the virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
The US death toll stands at 100,276, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, which has been tracking the pandemic.
BBC North America editor Jon Sopel says it is almost the same as the number of American servicemen and women killed in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan over 44 years of fighting.
But on a per capita basis the US ranks ninth in its mortality rate behind the likes of Belgium, the United Kingdom, France and Ireland.
President Donald Trump has insisted that without his administration’s actions the death toll would be 25 times higher, though critics have accused him of a slow response.
State governors have also been blamed for failing to grasp early enough the lethal threat that the virus posed to nursing homes.
Initially, the Republican president downplayed the pandemic, comparing it to the seasonal flu.
‘Corona will miraculously go away’
Back in February he said the US had the virus “under control” and that by April it could “miraculously go away”.
He predicted 50,000-60,000 deaths, then 60,000-70,000 and then “substantially under 100,000”.
With nearly 39 million Americans out of work during the pandemic, the US is pressing ahead state by state with reopening the coronavirus-frozen economy, even as the death toll continues to tick upwards.
All 50 states have begun to ease Covid-19 rules in some form.
The world’s largest theme park, Walt Disney World in Florida, has plans to begin opening on 11 July, if the state governor allows it.
Four Las Vegas casinos owned by MGM Resorts are also scheduled to reopen on 4 July. The company says employees will be tested for Covid-19 regularly.
Currently, there is no vaccine for Covid-19. There is also no confirmed treatment for the disease, but there are several being tested.
