1/ The number of confirmed U.S. deaths from Covid-19 surpassed 600,000 – 15 months since the onset of the pandemic. The U.S. Covid-19 death toll is more than 200 times higher than the number of lives lost during on Sept. 11, and higher than the number of American soldiers killed in combat during the Vietnam War, World War I, and World War II combined. The U.S., however, is now averaging 375 deaths per day – down from more than 3,000 per day in January and reaching their lowest point since March 2020 – due to the availability of effective vaccines. More than half of the U.S. population has received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine and 43% of the population is fully vaccinated. The White House, meanwhile, plans to host a July 4th “independence from virus” bash as the CDC declared the so-called delta variant, which was first detected in India, a “variant of concern.” The delta variant accounts for 9.9% of cases in the U.S. (ABC News / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / NBC News / NPR / CNN / Axios)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2021/06/15/day-147/