Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
'Unfathomable': US Death Toll From Coronavirus Hits 200,000
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
September 22, 2020

Share

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, a figure unimaginable eight months ago when the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation with its state-of-the-art laboratories, top-flight scientists and stockpiles of medicines and emergency supplies.

“It is completely unfathomable that we’ve reached this point,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher.

Deaths are running at close to 770 a day on average, and a widely cited model from the University of Washington predicts the U.S. toll will double to 400,000 by the end of the year as schools and colleges reopen and cold weather sets in. A vaccine is unlikely to become widely available until 2021.

The bleak milestone, by far the highest confirmed death toll from the virus in the world, was reported by Johns Hopkins, based on figures supplied by state health authorities. But the real toll is thought to be much higher, in part because many COVID-19 deaths were probably ascribed to other causes, especially early on, before widespread testing.

The number of dead in the U.S. is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 67 days. It is roughly equal to the population of Salt Lake City or Huntsville, Alabama.

And it is still climbing. Deaths are running at close to 770 a day on average, and a widely cited model from the University of Washington predicts the U.S. toll will double to 400,000 by the end of the year as schools and colleges reopen and cold weather sets in. A vaccine is unlikely to become widely available until 2021.

“The idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering, in some respects stunning,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, said on CNN.

The U.S. hit the threshold six weeks before a presidential election that is certain to be in part a referendum on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.

In an interview Tuesday with a Detroit TV station, Trump boasted of doing an “amazing” and “incredible” job against the scourge, adding: “The only thing we’ve done a bad job in is public relations because we haven’t been able to convince people — which is basically the fake news — what a great job we’ve done.”

For Five Months, America Has Led the World by Far in Sheer Numbers of Confirmed Infections and Deaths

And in a pre-recorded speech at a virtual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump lashed out at Beijing over what he called “the China virus” and demanded that it be held accountable for having “unleashed this plague onto the world.” China’s ambassador rejected the accusations as baseless.

For five months, America has led the world by far in sheer numbers of confirmed infections and deaths. The U.S. has less than 5% of the globe’s population but more than 20% of the reported deaths.

Brazil is No. 2 with about 137,000 deaths, followed by India with approximately 89,000 and Mexico with around 74,000. Only five countries — Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Spain and Brazil — rank higher in COVID-19 deaths per capita.

“All the world’s leaders took the same test, and some have succeeded and some have failed,” said Dr. Cedric Dark, an emergency physician at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who has seen death firsthand. “In the case of our country, we failed miserably.”

Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians have accounted for a disproportionate share of the deaths, underscoring the economic and health care disparities in the U.S.

Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 31 million people and is closing in fast on 1 million deaths, with over 965,000 lives lost, by Johns Hopkins’ count, though the real numbers are believed to be higher because of gaps in testing and reporting.

For the U.S., it wasn’t supposed to go this way.

When the year began, the U.S. had recently garnered recognition for its readiness for a pandemic. Health officials seemed confident as they converged on Seattle in January to deal with the country’s first known case of the coronavirus, in a 35-year-old Washington state resident who had returned from visiting his family in Wuhan, China.

Monitoring at Airports Was Loose. Travel Bans Came Too Late.

On Feb. 26, Trump held up pages from the Global Health Security Index, a measure of readiness for health crises, and declared: “The United States is rated No. 1 most prepared.”

It was true. The U.S. outranked the 194 other countries in the index. Besides its labs, experts and strategic stockpiles, the U.S. could boast of its disease trackers and plans for rapidly communicating lifesaving information during a crisis. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was respected around the world for sending help to fight infectious diseases.

But monitoring at airports was loose. Travel bans came too late. Only later did health officials realize the virus could spread before symptoms show up, rendering screening imperfect. The virus also swept into nursing homes, where infection controls were already poor, claiming more than 78,000 lives.

At the same time, gaps in leadership led to shortages of testing supplies. Internal warnings to ramp up production of masks were ignored, leaving states to compete for protective gear.

Trump downplayed the threat early on, advanced unfounded notions about the behavior of the virus, promoted unproven or dangerous treatments, complained that too much testing was making the U.S. look bad, and disdained masks, turning face coverings into a political issue.

On April 10, the president predicted the U.S. wouldn’t see 100,000 deaths. That milestone was reached May 27.

Nowhere was the lack of leadership seen as more crucial than in testing, a key to breaking the chain of contagion.

The Real Number of Dead From the Crisis Could Be Significantly Higher

“We have from the very beginning lacked a national testing strategy,” Nuzzo said. “For reasons I can’t truly fathom we’ve refused to develop one.” Such coordination should be led by the White House, not by each state independently, she said.

The real number of dead from the crisis could be significantly higher: As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. from all causes during the first seven months of 2020, according to CDC figures. The death toll from COVID-19 during the same period was put at about 150,000 by Johns Hopkins.

Roberto Tobias Jr., a 17-year-old from Queens in New York City, lost his mother and father to COVID-19 a month apart in the spring. He and his sister also contracted the virus but recovered. Tobias is now applying to college, hoping to get into Columbia University and become a neurosurgeon.

“Because it’s just me and my sister, we sort of have to rely on each other,” he said. “We were the only blood left.”

The real number of dead from the crisis could be significantly higher: As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. from all causes during the first seven months of 2020, according to CDC figures. The death toll from COVID-19 during the same period was put at about 150,000 by Johns Hopkins.

Researchers suspect some coronavirus deaths were overlooked, while other deaths may have been caused indirectly by the crisis, by creating such turmoil that people with chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease were unable or unwilling to get treatment.

Dark, the emergency physician at Baylor, said that before the crisis, “people used to look to the United States with a degree of reverence. For democracy. For our moral leadership in the world. Supporting science and using technology to travel to the moon.”

“Instead,” he said, “what’s really been exposed is how anti-science we’ve become.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Madera County Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Warnings, Road Closures

DON'T MISS

Sanger Police Seek Public’s Help to Find Missing Teen

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Everyone Should Immediately Evacuate Tehran

DON'T MISS

Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids

DON'T MISS

Trump Approval Steady at 42%, Support Weakens for His Immigration Policy, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

DON'T MISS

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

DON'T MISS

Iranian State TV Halts Live Broadcast After Israeli Strike

DON'T MISS

Global Markets Recover on Iran Ceasefire Reports, Central Banks in Focus

DON'T MISS

Madera Man Sentenced to Over 21 Years for Fentanyl, Meth Trafficking

UP NEXT

‘We Will Kill You Dead’: Florida Sheriff’s Stark Warning to Demonstrators

UP NEXT

Here’s What to Expect at the Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade on Trump’s Birthday

UP NEXT

US House Passes Trump Cuts of $9.4 Billion for Foreign Aid, Broadcasting

UP NEXT

Tulare County Inmate Found Unresponsive in Cell, Autopsy Pending

UP NEXT

Harvey Weinstein Convicted of Sex Crime Amid Contentious Jury Deliberations

UP NEXT

Trump Warns Protests at Army Parade Will Be Met With Force

UP NEXT

Do Americans Support Trump’s Use of Marines in LA? The Numbers Might Shock You

UP NEXT

Marines Will Deploy to LA for 60 Days, Costing Taxpayers $134 Million

UP NEXT

First the National Guard, Will the Marines Be Next at LA Riots?

UP NEXT

Sights & Sounds: The 2025 Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade and Festival

Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids

15 hours ago

Trump Approval Steady at 42%, Support Weakens for His Immigration Policy, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

16 hours ago

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

16 hours ago

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

16 hours ago

Iranian State TV Halts Live Broadcast After Israeli Strike

18 hours ago

Global Markets Recover on Iran Ceasefire Reports, Central Banks in Focus

18 hours ago

Madera Man Sentenced to Over 21 Years for Fentanyl, Meth Trafficking

18 hours ago

Touring a Tunnel That Leads Underneath a Hospital in Southern Gaza

18 hours ago

Suspect in Minnesota Lawmaker Killing Visited Other Legislators’ Homes, Prosecutors Say

18 hours ago

Spyware From US-Backed Israeli Firm Targeted European Journalists, Report Finds

18 hours ago

Madera County Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Warnings, Road Closures

A wildfire burning near Raymond Road and Avenue 16 in Madera County has prompted evacuation warnings and road closures, authorities said Mon...

14 hours ago

A wildfire near Raymond Road and Avenue 16 in Madera County has prompted evacuation warnings and road closures as officials urge residents to prepare to leave if threatened on Monday, June 16, 2025. (Madera County SO)
14 hours ago

Madera County Wildfire Prompts Evacuation Warnings, Road Closures

Sanger police are searching for Kaylani Thompson, 17, who went missing Saturday, June 14, 2025, after leaving her home and was last seen getting into a white sedan. (Sanger PD)
14 hours ago

Sanger Police Seek Public’s Help to Find Missing Teen

A view of the cityscape in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
14 hours ago

Trump Says Everyone Should Immediately Evacuate Tehran

15 hours ago

Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

Trump Approval Steady at 42%, Support Weakens for His Immigration Policy, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

A person was rescued from a Fresno canal Monday, June 16, 2025, near Dakota and Ninth Street, marking the third such incident in recent days, officials said. (Fresno FD)
16 hours ago

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

16 hours ago

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

18 hours ago

Iranian State TV Halts Live Broadcast After Israeli Strike

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend