Coronavirus deaths in US top 100,000

The US has passed 100,000 deaths in the coronavirus outbreak in less than four months.

It has seen more fatalities than any other country, while its 1.69 million confirmed infections account for about 30% of the worldwide total.

The first US infection was reported in Washington state on 21 January.

Globally there have been 5.6 million people recorded as infected and 354,983 deaths since the virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

The US death toll stands at 100,276, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, which has been tracking the pandemic.

It means that around as many Americans have died from Covid-19 than from the Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.

But on a per capita basis the US ranks ninth in its mortality rate behind the likes of Belgium, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, according to the university.

The US death toll is still climbing, and health officials say the actual number is likely higher than the recorded count.

What’s the national picture?

Twenty states reported a rise in new cases for the week ending on Sunday, according to a Reuters study.

North Carolina, Wisconsin and Arkansas are among those seeing a steady rise in cases.

The caseload remains stubbornly high in a number of metropolitan areas, including Chicago, Los Angeles and suburban Washington DC.

Some hard-hit states are seeing a drop in death rates, including New York, where 21,000 residents have died.

During the peak of the crisis in the city, the daily death toll was in the hundreds. Hospitals were overwhelmed and makeshift morgues were built outside health facilities.

What has been the political response?

President Donald Trump has insisted that without his administration’s actions the death toll would be 25 times higher, though critics have accused him of a slow response.

State governors have also been blamed for failing to grasp early enough the lethal threat that the virus posed to nursing homes.

Initially, the Republican president downplayed the pandemic, comparing it to the seasonal flu. Back in February he said the US had the virus “under control” and that by April it could “miraculously go away”.

He predicted 50,000-60,000 deaths, then 60,000-70,000 and then “substantially under 100,000”.

Mr Trump also argued this month it was “a badge of honour” that the US had the world’s highest number of confirmed infections “because it means our testing is much better”.

A study from Columbia University in New York suggested about 36,000 fewer people would have died if the US had acted sooner.

Joe Biden, Mr Trump’s likely Democratic challenger in November’s White House election, issued a message directly to grieving families on Wednesday.

“To those hurting, I’m so sorry for your loss,” the former vice-president said in a tweet. “The nation grieves with you.”