The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 200,000 on Tuesday, the highest number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in any one country, as U.S. cases exceeded 6.8 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
“The idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering, in some respects stunning,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert.
While the U.S. is recording nearly 770 daily deaths from the virus on average, a model from the University of Washington predicts the overall U.S. toll will grow to 400,000 by year’s end as experts worry cases will spike as a result of school and college reopenings and cold weather moving many activities indoors.