Covid-19 death toll in the United States surpasses 600,000
The coronavirus death toll in the United States now stands at 600,138 – more than in any other country
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
As of Tuesday, more than 600,000 Americans have died of Covid-19.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center, the death toll from the novel coronavirus in the United States now stands at 600,138 – more than in any other country.
The rate at which Americans are dying of the virus, however, has considerably slowed in recent months. In mid-January, when the pandemic reached its deadliest peak in the US, the country was recording an average of about 3,300 deaths per day. Today that rate is about 330.
That decrease is largely due to the three Covid-19 vaccines finding their way into Americans’ arms. As of this week, 53 per cent of all Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine, either from Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson.
Even so, the number of deaths in the US is disproportionately high. The next highest death toll is in India, which has more than four times America’s population. In that country, 377,031 people have died of the virus – less than two-thirds of the US number.
The number is also a reminder of the shocking toll Covid has taken on the US, where the virus first arrived less than a year and a half ago. The first American to die of Covid-19 passed away on 29 February. By mid-April, it was killing more than 2,000 Americans a day. By the end of May, it had killed more than 100,000 Americans total.
However, the time between such grim milestones has significantly expanded. When the country reached 500,000 deaths, it had only been about a month since it had reached 400,000. Getting from 500,000 to 600,000 deaths took about four months.
The number of infections in the US has also plummeted. In January, the country reported an average of over 250,000 new Covid cases per day. Today that number is about 14,000.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments