As the Coronavirus death toll in the United States tops 5,00,000, President Joe Biden holds a sunset moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House on Monday
US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, hold a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC
The COVID-19 death toll in the US has topped 500,000, a staggering number that all but matches the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined. The US recorded an estimated 405,000 deaths in World War II, 58,000 in the Vietnam War and 36,000 in the Korean War. President Joe Biden held a sunset moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House on Monday and ordered American flags lowered at federal buildings for the next five days. “We have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow,” Biden said. “We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic or a blur.”
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Healthcare workers walk at a COVID-19 vaccination drive-through site at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. The United States has been the worst-hit nation in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Pics/AFP
Monday’s grim milestone, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, comes as states redouble efforts to get the Coronavirus vaccine into arms after last week’s winter weather closed clinics, slowed vaccine deliveries and forced tens of thousands of people to miss their shots.
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. The US toll is by far the highest reported in the world, accounting for 20 per cent of the nearly 2.5 million Coronavirus deaths globally, though the true numbers are thought to be significantly greater, in part because many cases were overlooked, especially early in the outbreak. The first known deaths from the virus in the US were in early February 2020. It took four months to reach the first 100,000 deaths. The toll hit 200,000 in September and 300,000 in December, then took just over a month to go from 300,000 to 400,000 and another month to climb from 400,000 to 500,000.
Average daily deaths and cases have plummeted in the past few weeks. Virus deaths have fallen from more than 4,000 reported on some days in January to an average of fewer than 1,900 per day.
Mexico begins vaccination drive
Mexican health authorities began to vaccinate older adults with a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, after a shipment of doses
arrived on February 20. Mexico’s government designated the first shipment of the Sinovac vaccine to arrive in Ecatepec, a city in central State of Mexico that lies on the outskirts of the capital Mexico City, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
Lanka may not use Chinese vaccines
Sri Lanka has ordered 13.5 mn Oxford AstraZeneca Coronavirus vaccines in addition to the 500,000 doses gifted by India, and the country may not use Chinese vaccines in the second phase of immunisation, a government spokesman said. Ramesh Pathirana, who is also the Minister of Plantations, said Sri Lanka is likely to go only with the AstraZeneca vaccines for the second phase as the Chinese and Russian vaccines are not ready yet. “The Chinese vaccine has not submitted the papers relating to phase three trials,” said Pathirana.
1,77,143
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
11,18,24,687
Total no. of cases worldwide
24,76,668
Total no. of deaths worldwide
Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins
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