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WASHINGTON DC – This week, the United States surpassed 1 million COVID-19 deaths, according to Associated Press (AP) and NBC News.
John Hopkins University which is also tracking deaths has the United States at 997,443 as of today.
To put that in perspective that would be about the entire City of Boston, roughly 700,000 people, plus the cities of Worcester and Cambridge combined.
The 1 millionth death comes 27 months after the first COVID death in the United State in the spring of 2020.
Brazil is a distant second in the world with more than 600,000 COVID deaths.
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More than half of U.S. COVID deaths have occurred since President Joe Biden was inaugurated in January 2021.
Three out of every four deaths were people 65 and older, according to data analyzed by The Associated Press.
About 255,000 people 85 and older died; 257,000 were 75 to 84 years old; and about 229,000 were 65 to 74.
But the virus does attack all ages – between the ages of 15 to 24 years, there were 2,636. And between the ages of 25 to 34 years, there were 11, 127 deaths, according to AP.
“There are no words to fully capture the loss of one million friends, loved ones, partners, family members, and those we did not know to COVID-19,” said Senator Markey. “How do we grieve the uncelebrated anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, and other cherished moments that make life the tapestry of shared experience and memories? Tragically, this pandemic is not yet over, not for the United States nor for the globe.”
Senator Markey said “We must acknowledge and continue to address the disproportionate impact this pandemic is having on Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant, and low-income communities. Our goal must be to confront the reckoning of injustice – racial, economic, educational, health – that this pandemic has made undeniable. And we must treat the lasting effects of long-COVID for those living with it, including with research, disability benefits, and quality health care. For the elderly and immunocompromised, the COVID-19 threat remains a daily specter, and we must center those communities in our response, planning, and messaging to ensure the death toll doesn’t match the rates of the past two years. I will fight to pass legislation that supports those most impacted by this pandemic.”
In August 2021, Senators Markey, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced a resolution to memorialize those lost to the COVID–19 virus and recognize the suffering of COVID–19 survivors.
This resolution would designate the first Monday in March as “COVID–19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day.”
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