Worldwide Deaths from Coronavirus: More than 1 Million
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the number of one million deaths from the coronavirus was "a very sad milestone." "So many people have lost so many people and haven't had the chance to say goodbye. Many people who died, died alone... It's a terribly difficult and lonely death," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said Tuesday from Geneva.
"It's not just a number," Dr. Howard Marke told the Associated Press. "It's our brothers, our sisters. It's people we know." He is a professor of medical history at the University of Michigan. He has aided government officials on controlling pandemics. His 84-year-old mother died from COVID-19 in February.
The one million number was recorded late Monday by Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center. But it is almost certainly a large undercount because of problems with testing as well as reporting by some countries. It has been nine months since the virus arrived and destroyed much of the international economy. The virus has tested world leaders' ability to fight the health crisis. And it has found science and politics working against each other. People walk inside the Yaba Mainland hospital compound where an Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on Tuesday from Milan on a business trip, the first case of the COVID-19 virus is being treated in Lagos Nigeria Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (AP Photo) People walk inside the Yaba Mainland hospital compound where an Italian citizen who entered Nigeria on Tuesday from Milan on a business trip, the first case of the COVID-19 virus is being treated in Lagos Nigeria Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. (AP Photo) The number continues to increase as nearly 5,000 deaths are reported each day on average. Parts of Europe are getting hit by new outbreaks. Experts fear a second wave in the United States where more than 205,000 people have died from COVID-19, more than any other country.
