Covid’s toll in the U.S. reaches a once unfathomable number: 1 million deaths

A white flag with a memorial written on it is one of the thousands of white flags representing Americans who have died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) placed over 20 acres of the National Mall in Washington, September 26, 2021.

According to data compiled by NBC News, the United States has surpassed 1 million Covid-19 deaths.

27 months after the country confirmed its first case of swine flu, the number was reached.

Diana Ordonez, the widow of Juan Ordonez, said that each of those people touched hundreds of other people.

There have been fewer deaths from Covid in recent weeks, but still many people are dying every day. The casualty count is much higher than people thought it would be, because former President Donald Trump downplayed the virus while in office.

In front of a cheering crowd in North Charleston, South Carolina, on February 28, 2020, Trump said of Democrats, "This is their new hoax."

A day later, health officials in Washington made the announcement that a patient had died.

The US death toll is the highest in the world by a significant margin. Brazil has over 660,000 confirmed Covid deaths.

The fact that so many have died is appalling, said Christopher Murray, who heads the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The toll continues to increase.

Murray said this is far from over.

Each death causes lasting pain. Diana Ordonez's husband was promoted before he died. He loved to be with his family when he wasn't working.

Mia has lost her dad and has brought a lot of questions and anxiety. Ordonez, 35, of Waldwick, New Jersey, doesn't always have answers.

I try to be understanding, but I definitely have felt so many times that I am not equipped to parent this person.

There are times of joy and sadness.

Ordonez said he wished he was here for this.

America's death toll is seen as evidence of its inadequate response to the crisis.

We had the chance to be a shining example to the rest of the world, but we didn't do that. When he traveled to Philadelphia to get his vaccine at age 16, he made headlines.

Robert Murphy is the executive director of the Havey Institute for Global Health at the Feinberg School of Medicine.

We were encouraged by the rapid development of the vaccines, and everyone thought we were going to be able to get out of this.

Steven Ho was an emergency room technician in Los Angeles. He said he thinks the public was confused by the changing guidelines from the CDC.

He said that they didn't do a good job.

Many health care workers quit their jobs last year. The study found that about 3% of health care workers left the industry in the month before the epidemic. The share increased from April to December. The US Department of Labor reported that the health care workforce has lost 300,000 employees.

He decided to become a comedian. Combining his experience treating Covid patients with comedy, he donned his hospital scrubs to create a popular series of TikTok videos.

It was Ho's way of dealing with what he had seen.

He said that it helped him release his anger and sadness.

Since President Joe Biden took office, more than half of US Covid deaths have occurred.

Unvaccinated Americans accounted for most of the deaths between April and December of 2021. The risk of death from Covid was 20 times higher for unvaccinated people than for those who were boosted, according to the CDC.

We know that vaccines work. We know that masks work. Crowd control, limiting crowded spaces, works, we know that. Murphy said that this is like a no-brainer, but we can't seem to do it.

Sherie Hellams Gamble is worried about the effects of the Pandemic on health care workers. Her daughter said that her mother was an intensive care unit nurse for three decades who treated her patients as if they were family.

I still talk to people that worked with her. I always say please be careful. I'm thinking about you, Gamble, of South Carolina.

She received a lifetime achievement award in nursing nine months after her death. It was difficult to accept the award on her mother's behalf.

Gamble said that it solidified her work that she's done.

The family created a scholarship in hopes of getting more nurses into the field. She thinks that if she were still alive, she would tell everyone to take care of themselves.

She would say, "Not only does your health affect you, but it affects other people, so do what you can to keep yourself healthy."

Gamble is certain that her mom would have another reminder, "Don't take for granted life and the days you are still here on Earth."