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(CNN) – What happened today seemed impossible to many Americans six months ago.
When Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted in March that Covid-19 could kill 200,000 people in the US, the skeptics he lashed out and accused him of showing off.
But Fauci was right. And the United States reached that grim milestone long earlier than some experts predicted.
Since the first known death from Covid-19 in the US on February 6, an average of more than 858 people have died from the disease every day.
Many of those victims died without their loved ones in hospital rooms. Many others never had a proper funeral, and mourners remotely wept online.
Covid-19 is now the second leading cause of death in the US, right after heart disease, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.
What happens next with the pandemic depends largely on personal responsibility and how willing Americans are to fight this battle together.
Covid-19 has already killed more people in the US than Americans who died in battle during the five most recent wars combined: the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War. and the Persian Gulf War.
The loss of life is like suffering the effects of Hurricane Katrinas. Or endure the attacks of September 11 every day for 66 days.
And researchers project nearly 180,000 additional deaths from Covid-19 by January 1.
But it does not have to be like that.
“Increasing the use of masks to 95% can save almost 115,000 lives, reducing that expected number of deaths by 62.7%,” said the IHME.
And the very use of the mask, physical distancing and hand washing that protect against Covid-19 can also help avoid a “twin disease” of flu and coronavirus that could overwhelm the health care system.
“We have to stay strong and do the things that could slow the spread,” said pediatrician Dr. Brett Giroir, the testing czar of the White House coronavirus task force.
“Number 1: Wear a mask when we can’t physically distance ourselves. Number 2: Avoid crowds. Number 3: Hygiene. And with smart testing, we can flatten the curve and slow the spread,” Giroir said.
“We have a formula to reduce deaths, reduce cases. But we all have to be disciplined and diligent to make sure we obey that every day.”
This story was first published on CNN.com, “200,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the US. That’s more than the US battle deaths in 5 wars combined.”
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