Covid deaths in the United States: The United States has been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Washington:
The United States, the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, passed 800,000 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, a tracking device maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed.
This is larger than the entire population of several states, including North Dakota and Alaska.
Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who lead the House and Senate respectively, as well as House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and other members of Congress were momentarily silent. on the steps of the Capitol building on Tuesday night.
“On this day … we will remember that 800,000 loved ones have not come this far: dead father or grandfather, mother or grandmother, a friend, a familiar face in the neighborhood,” Schumer said. said in a statement.
“We all know of someone this disease has taken away.”
About 450,000 deaths occur in 2021, although a highly effective vaccine was first authorized in December 2020 and widely available in the spring.
The majority of deaths are among unvaccinated people.
According to official data, the risk of dying from Covid-19 in unvaccinated people is 14 times higher than in those analyzed in September, the most recent month.
Vaccines were picked up in the fourth wave of the epidemic, driven by the Delta variant, and more than 60% of the country’s 332 million people are now fully immunized – although the US still lags behind other countries. other rich people.
The country is now entering its fifth wave, with the epicenter located in the colder northern states, as people tend to congregate indoors more.
Omicron, the latest variant to cause worldwide concern since it was first reported in South Africa in late November, currently accounts for about 3% of cases in the US, but the number is expected will increase rapidly, as seen in other countries.
Even if initial data suggest that the milder pathogenic variant in most people is confirmed, its increased transmissibility and ability to overcome prior immunity may negate this advantage, by way to infect more people.
Health authorities are encouraging everyone over the age of 16 to get a booster shot to restore immunity at the equivalent of two doses against previous strains.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
