US tops 500,000 virus deaths, matching the toll of 3 wars

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has topped 500,000. | Photo: WDIO-TV file

WDIO
Updated: February 22, 2021 08:02 PM
Created: February 22, 2021 03:12 PM

The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. has topped 500,000, all but matching the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined. The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are about equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and greater than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; or Omaha, Nebraska.

The U.S. toll is by far the highest reported in the world.

Despite the rollout of vaccines since mid-December, a closely watched model from the University of Washington projects more than 589,000 dead by June 1.

President Joe Biden says it’s a “truly grim, heartbreaking milestone.” Biden is urging Americans to resist becoming “numb to the sorrow” and “viewing each life as a statistic.” He says the people lost were “extraordinary.” He spoke before holding a moment of silence in the White House and inviting the public to join.