Feb 23rd 2021- President Joe Biden has addressed the nation as the US marks 500,000 deaths from Covid-19, the highest toll of any country in the world. The president and vice-president, and their spouses, then observed a moment of silence outside the White House during a candle-lighting ceremony. More than 28.1 million Americans have been infected marking another global record.
This builds a milestone that underscores the grave threat the virus still poses even as more people are vaccinated.
“The people we lost were extraordinary” president Joe Biden said.
The number lost is more than the fatalities incurred during the world war 1, world war 2 and Vietnam combined making it an enormous loss on American soil.
More than 28,206,600 cases have been confirmed in the U.S., according to the NBC News tally. The average number of daily new cases has reduced recently, however. The number fell below 100,000 on Feb. 12 for the first time in months.
The coronavirus has killed more than 2,462,000 people worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than a fifth of all deaths worldwide have occurred in the the U.S., which has less than 5 percent of the global population.