It Was Deadliest Day Of Summer And US Death Toll May Be Even Worse Than Reported

The U.S. marked its deadliest day of summer so far on Wednesday with nearly 1,500 coronavirus deaths reported, the Washington Post said.

The death toll is the highest since mid-May, when COVID-19 deaths reached over 2,900, according to data from the World Health Organization. The U.S. has over 5.1 million positive cases of the coronavirus and over 166,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The numbers also suggest that at least 200,000 more people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. since March than would typically occur, according to data estimates from The New York Times. The data also indicated that the official death count may be even higher than what is being reported because many states are weeks and months behind in confirming their data, the Times said.

The COVID-19 death toll is highest in the Northeast, where New York was initially the epicenter for the virus. While New York has slowed the curve of the virus, the Northeast is still making up nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., despite numbers that have declined dramatically since April at the peak of the virus, according to data from the Times.

The U.S.’s death count leads the world in total COVID-19 deaths, with Brazil, Mexico, India, and the U.K. lagging behind. Brazil, which has over 3.1 million positive coronavirus cases, has reported over 104,000 COVID-19 deaths and Mexico has over 498,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and over 54,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

India, which recently overtook the U.K. in total COVID-19 deaths, has reported over 47,000 COVID-19 deaths and over 2.3 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The U.K. accounts for over 46,000 COVID-19 deaths and over 315,000 positive cases of the virus, according to the university.