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WASHINGTON: The United States recorded its 200,000th death from the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday (September 22), the latest grim milestone for the country just weeks before voters decide whether President Donald Trump will remain in office.
According to a rolling count from Johns Hopkins University, 200,182 Americans have died and 6.86 million have been confirmed infected with the new coronavirus.
The United States has had the highest official death toll in the world for months, ahead of Brazil and India, with 137,272 and 88,935 deaths, respectively.
Overall, the United States accounts for four percent of the world’s population and 20 percent of its recorded deaths from coronavirus.
Critics say the statistics expose the Trump administration’s failure to meet its most severe test before the Nov.3 election.
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“Due to the lies and incompetence of Donald Trump in the last six months, (we) have seen one of the most serious loss of American life in history,” his Democratic rival Joe Biden accused Monday.
Reacting to the bleak new milestone, Congressional Top Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, directly blamed the high death toll on “Trump’s deadly misinformation and neglect, including his cover-up of the catastrophic nature of the virus”.
The adoption of public health measures remains mixed throughout the country. (Photo: AFP / Mario Tama)
Trump, for his part, insists that the United States is already “turning the corner,” while betting on the rapid approval of a COVID-19 vaccine to increase his chances of re-election.
“We will distribute a vaccine, defeat the virus, end the pandemic and enter a new era of unprecedented prosperity, cooperation and peace,” Trump said in a recorded message to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
‘NATIONAL RESPONSE FAILED’
Trump has previously stated that by April of next year, most Americans who want to get vaccinated will have a vaccine.
But most experts argue that betting on vaccines is not a viable strategy.
Without adhering to masks, distancing and contact tracing, and without speeding up testing, tens of thousands more could die before life returns to normal in the US.
READ: World records weekly record number of COVID-19 cases, deaths decline: WHO
“Covid will be the third leading cause of death this year in the United States,” tweeted Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under former President Barack Obama.
Only the number of people who died from heart disease and cancer will be greater.
“The staggering death toll from the virus is a reflection of a failed national response, but it is not too late to turn it around,” Frieden said.
The United States likely exceeded 200,000 deaths in July, said Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Institute, citing the overall excess death rate.
In reality, the United States is likely to exceed 200,000 deaths in July, said Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Institute, citing the excess death rate. (Photo: AFP / Johannes Eisele)
The initial lack of evidence led to an undercount of the number of victims of the virus.
“We are the most unusual to have been caught totally off guard with no evidence, and simply not learning from mistakes,” Topol said.
“We never got the proper suppression and yet we are opening everything up and trying to make believe that everything is great.”
Adoption of public health measures remains mixed in the US.
FLASHING HOTSPOTS
In many cities, students have virtually returned to school, the indoor areas of bars and restaurants remain closed, and the use of masks has increased.
But hot spots are still emerging, currently in the Midwest and on college campuses that have returned to in-person learning.
Critics say Trump abdicated responsibility and left state governors to deal with the crisis and decide on closures.
Access points are still on the rise, even on college campuses that returned to in-person learning. (Photo: AFP / Ethan Miller)
“We had a series of crazy responses across the country that totally confused the average person,” William Schaffner, a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University, told AFP.
“We needed a unified, coherent and strong national response.”
The CDC, the nation’s top health agency, reversed its latest guidance this week, days after saying the virus can commonly be spread through “tiny droplets or particles, such as aerosols” that are produced when a person breathe.
The belief that the virus can be transmitted by particles that remain in the air long after being exhaled has gained support among scientists.
But on Monday the CDC removed the wording, saying it was a draft published in error.
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