Covid-19: US Death Toll Surpasses 200,000

(Patria) – The death toll from the coronavirus infection in the US has surpassed 200,000, confirmed Johns Hopkins University.

The US is first in the world in terms of deaths due to Covid-19, followed by Brazil, India, and Mexico.

A recent report by the Brookings Institution on the response of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries to the Covid-19 pandemic states that the number of infections and deaths in the US first decreased, and then began to rise again from June: 'Unemployment and health outcomes in the US during the pandemic were worse than in any other developed country in the world,' the report states.  

- New cases of infection in the US in September are 60% higher than in an average OECD country, while the number of new deaths is now five times higher, reports the Brookings Institution.  

The highest infection rates are in California, followed closely by Texas and Florida. In recent days, the number of new infections has also been rising in the Midwest, especially in the state of Iowa.

Experts believe that the next few months will determine how the US will cope with the pandemic during the winter – much depends on improving rapid testing, contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine to manage the epidemic, rather than simply staying at home and preventing children from going to school.

Epidemiologist Caitlin River from the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University fears that particularly affected areas could continue to shift from one part of the country to another until a vaccine becomes available.

The pandemic has severely hit the US economy, but exiting the general quarantine has marked the beginning of recovery – the unemployment rate fell to 8.4% last month, thanks in part to 1.4 million new jobs. However, the rise in infection rates in September has slowed down the recovery and job creation.