US Surpasses 600,000 Deaths from COVID, Leading the World
Voice of America
The United States has surpassed 600,000 dead from COVID-19, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported Tuesday. The count spans from the beginning of the pandemic 15 months ago.
While the numbers of new COVID-19 cases and daily deaths in the United States have fallen steadily in recent weeks, the milestone is a harsh reminder of the toll the pandemic has taken and is still taking. U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday acknowledged the approaching milestone, saying that while new cases and deaths are dropping dramatically in the U.S., "there's still too many lives being lost," and "now is not the time to let our guard down." In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced late Monday that the government would be pushing back by nearly four weeks its "road map out of lockdown" date — from June 21 to July 19 — on which all COVID-19-related restrictions would be lifted.FILE - A tablet displays the logo of Facebook parent Meta Platforms. Meta and other companies are churning out new AI language models and hoping to convince customers they've got the smartest, handiest or most efficient chatbots. FILE - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicks off the tech giant's Connect developer conference, Sept. 27, 2023, in Menlo Park, Calif. Meta on April 18, 2024, unveiled a new set of artificial intelligence systems.
Chairs are set for missing members of the Bibas family who are held hostage in Gaza at a Passover Seder table April 11, 2024, at Israel's Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a quarter of all residents were killed or captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Shlomi Berger sits in his daughter's bedroom in Holon, Israel, April 17, 2024. Osnat Peri, right, whose husband, Haim, is in Hamas captivity, takes part in a Passover Seder commemoration with relatives of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, at the communal dining room at Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel, April 11, 2024.
FILE - A line of Holstein dairy cows feed through a fence at a dairy farm in Idaho on March 11, 2009. Since March 2024, a strain of avian influenza has been found in dairy cow herds in eight U.S. states. FILE - Researchers collect samples of wildlife, where the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected, at Chilean Antarctic Territory, Antarctica, in this handout photo obtained March 13, 2024. (Instituto Antartico Chileno/Handout via Reuters)
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, center, prepares for a sentencing hearing in state district court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 15, 2024. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool) FILE - A musician plays a violin behind a photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil in her honor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct. 23, 2021.
Performers take part in the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics, at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024. Actress Mary Mina, playing a priestess, hands an olive branch to the first torch bearer, Greek olympic gold medalist Stefanos Douskos, during the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024. Actress Mary Mina, playing a priestess, lights the flame during the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics, at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024. Performers take part in the final dress rehearsal of the flame lighting ceremony for the Paris Olympics, at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, April 15, 2024.