COVID Death Toll In U.S. Hits 800,000 To Close Out Year

MISSION, Kan. (AP/CBS13) — The U.S. connected Tuesday deed different depressing pandemic milestone — 800,000 deaths. It’s a bittersweet coda to a twelvemonth that held truthful overmuch committedness with the accomplishment of vaccines but is ending successful heartbreak for the galore grieving families trying to navigate the vacation season.

According to Johns Hopkins University, determination person been much than 50,233,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases successful the state implicit the people of the pandemic.

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California accounts for much than 5,177,000 cases and much than 75,000 deaths.

The twelvemonth began with the COVID-19 decease toll astatine astir 350,000 successful the U.S., astatine a clip erstwhile the state was successful the throes of a wintertime surge truthful atrocious that patients were lined up successful exigency country hallways waiting for beds.

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But vaccines were conscionable getting rolled out, and sports stadiums and fairgrounds were rapidly transformed into wide vaccination sites. Case numbers began falling. By spring, astir each schools had reopened and communities were shedding disguise orders. TV newscasters began talking cheerfully astir a post-pandemic world. President Joe Biden proclaimed the Fourth of July holiday arsenic a solemnisation of the nation’s state from the virus.

It didn’t past long. The delta variant struck just arsenic vaccination rates were stalling amid a question of misinformation, devastating poorly immunized portions of the Midwest and South. Hospitals brought backmost mobile morgues and opened up their pocketbooks successful a hopeless bid to pull capable nurses to attraction for the sick.

“People person nary idea,” said Debbie Eaves, a laboratory worker, who grew weary of the question of decease arsenic she collected swabs from patients astatine Oakdale Community Hospital successful Louisiana amid the surge. “Oh, no. They person nary thought what it is to look and see, to spot it.”

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Now, arsenic the twelvemonth ends, the delta variant is fueling different question of hospitalizations, tribunal battles are brewing implicit vaccine mandates and caller questions are swirling astir the caller omicron variant.