‘Almost unbelievable’: US surpasses 500,000 COVID deaths

Country hits harrowing total as Biden administration ramps up coronavirus vaccinations amid a drop in daily infections.

More than 500,000 people in the United States with coronavirus have died, according to Johns Hopkins University data, the highest death toll by far of any country in the world. The country reached the harrowing tally on Monday, just about a year after the first known death was reported in the state of California. US President Joe Biden, who will hold a moment of silence at the White House on Monday evening, issued a proclamation urging Americans to remember all those who died during the pandemic.