COVID-19 has killed 1 million Americans, says US President Joe Biden
Key Takeaways:
- On Thursday, President Joe Biden commemorated the one-millionth COVID-19 death in the United States, calling it a "tragic milestone" and urging Americans to "remain vigilant" in the ongoing pandemic.
- The actual cost of the pandemic may never be understood. Some people who died while sick was never tested; therefore, their information is lost.
President Joe Biden marked the one-millionth death in the United States from COVID-19 on Thursday, calling it a "tragic milestone" and encouraging Americans to "stay vigilant" in the continuing pandemic.
Biden noted the impact of the loss on the families left behind in a statement, urging the country not to "become numb to such pain," noting that "a nation forever transformed."
According to a Reuters calculation, the United States registered more than 1 million COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, marking a once-unthinkable milestone two years after the first instances upended normal life. The death rate is nearly one in every 327 Americans, or more than the populations of San Francisco and Seattle combined.
According to the White House, Biden will recognize the somber occasion by ordering flags flown at half-staff. The White House will also host a second worldwide COVID Summit on Thursday.
The Democratic president has asked Congress for billions more in COVID-19 money to keep combating the virus as new strains emerge. Still, the request was dissociated from separate Ukraine aid expected to approve in the coming days.
"We must be vigilant against such a pandemic and do whatever we can to save as many lives as possible," Biden said on Thursday, adding that "we have more diagnostics, vaccines, and therapies than ever before." "In the next months, it's vital that Congress maintains these resources."
The US Congress had negotiated an agreement worth $10 billion, but the second tranche of money had been delayed due to numerous issues.
As the virus evolves, researchers are working on a new booster shot, and health experts say more pandemic funding is required immediately to prevent future outbreaks that might wreak even more harm.
The true cost of the pandemic may never be understood. Some persons who died while afflicted were never tested, so their data is missing. Others may have died for reasons other than COVID-19, such as cancer, but were nonetheless counted.