Coronavirus killed more Americans than the Vietnam War

New York State remains the most affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Here in Brooklyn, April 28, 2020. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid

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According to the latest count from Johns Hopkins University, the number of patients who died in two months from the new coronavirus in the United States now exceeds that of the American soldiers killed in two decades during the conflict in Vietnam.

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The two events are incomparable, but the symbol is strong. According to the latest count from Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday April 28, 58,365 people died from Covid-19 in the United States, the most affected on the planet. While according to the official report published in the National Archives, 58,220 American soldiers lost their lives during the Vietnam War (1955-1975), one of the greatest trauma experienced by Americans in the 20th century.

The United States crossed another symbolic bar on Tuesday, that of the million diagnosed cases of new coronavirus. This represents about a third of the total number of cases recorded in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. Less than three weeks ago, the country had reached 500,000 reported cases. The epicenter of the American epidemic remains New York State, which alone accounts for nearly a third of the cases reported nationwide.

The United States justifies its large number of contaminations detected by a screening policy widely ramped up, with more than 5.6 million tests carried out, according to Johns Hopkins University. America has carried out "  more than twice as many tests as any other country,  " President Donald Trump said Monday evening. The number of new cases "  in the regions of New York, New Orleans, Detroit, Boston and Houston is decreasing (...) and we see very few (places) that we will observe as a new focus  "of the disease," he said.

If the United States is indeed the country having carried out the most tests in absolute value, in proportion to its population, more than fifteen countries are doing better in terms of screening, in particular Iceland, absolute champion, but also the Italy, Spain and Belgium, according to the Our World in Data site, which compiles data from around the world.

(With AFP )

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  • Coronavirus
  • United States
  • History