A cemetery in New York. - AFP

The United States crossed the threshold of 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, a toll significantly higher than any other country in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. The first death of Covid-19 in the United States was announced at the end of February. The country now records nearly 1.7 million cases, according to the counting of this university which refers.

The actual number of deaths and contaminations, however, is significantly higher, experts say. The number of deaths over 24 hours also went up on Wednesday, with 1,401 additional deaths recorded, after three days in a row with less than 700 daily deaths.

New York State alone represents almost a third of the deaths deplored since the start of the pandemic in the country, where the flags were flown at half-mast for three days last weekend to pay tribute to the victims.

Death toll doubled in one month

The first death of the virus in the United States was announced on February 26, although the authorities have since confirmed that other people had actually died of the disease in mid-February. The threshold of 50,000 dead had been crossed a little over a month ago, on April 24.

The number of deaths per capita is lower in the United States than in several European countries, including the United Kingdom (second most bereaved country in absolute value, with some 37,000 deaths), Belgium, Italy, Spain , France or Sweden.

According to an average of several epidemiological models carried out by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, the number of deaths from Covid-19 should be close to 123,000 deaths in the country by June 20. The White House had it estimated between 100,000 and 240,000 dead.

The widely engaged deconfinement

After having regularly crossed the 2,000 daily death bar between the beginning of April and the beginning of May, the country has not exceeded this threshold for twenty days, even if it has still mostly exceeded 1,000 deaths in one day for the past three weeks.

Experts, including immunologist Anthony Fauci, adviser to the White House on the Covid-19 crisis, agree that the official American balance sheet is in reality probably below reality. Despite the record recorded by the United States on Wednesday, deconfinement is widely underway across the country, under the impetus of President Donald Trump, resolved to revive the economy.

“There are days in our History so dark, so heartbreaking, that they are forever engraved in each of our hearts like a common mourning. This is one of those moments, "said Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden after crossing the 100,000 dead line.

  • Coronavirus
  • World
  • United States
  • Covid 19
  • Deconfinement
  • Donald trump