US death toll from Covid-19 surpasses 1 million

President Joe Biden in a statement acknowledged the ‘unrelenting’ pain of those who had lost loved ones during the pandemic

In the former epicentre New York, life is largely back to normal but some fear another wave of infections amid an uptick in cases driven by the Omicron subvariant

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A worker transports a Covid-19 victim’s body to a funeral home in New York City. File photo: AFP

Published: 6:24pm, 12 May 2022Updated: 1:47pm, 13 May 2022

The United States has crossed the threshold of one million deaths from Covid-19, the White House said on Thursday, as cities like New York try to turn the page on the pandemic despite threats of another surge.

“Today, we mark a tragic milestone: one million American lives lost to Covid-19,” President Joe Biden said in a statement that acknowledged the “unrelenting” pain of those who had lost loved ones during the pandemic.

He called on residents to “remain vigilant against this pandemic” and said it was “critical” for Congress to fund resources like testing, vaccines and treatments.

For many, the toll of more than one million deaths was difficult to comprehend.

“It’s unfathomable,” Diana Berrent, one of the first people in New York state to catch Covid-19, said of the toll that far exceeds epidemiologists’ worst predictions made at the outbreak of the crisis in spring 2020.

Then, New York City was the virus epicentre. Hospitals and morgues overflowed and the sound of ambulance sirens rang down empty streets as then-president Donald Trump responded chaotically in Washington.