COVID-19's global death toll tops 5 million in under 2 years

Nov 02, 20210

Rajesh Kumar Singh, Associated Press count

Reena Kesarwani holds a photograph of her husband, Anand Babu Kesarwani, who died of COVID-19, in their hardware shop, Oct. 25, 2021, in the Chhitpalgarh village, in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state.

The global death toll from COVID-19 topped 5 million on Monday, less than two years into a crisis that has not only devastated poor countries but also humbled wealthy ones with first-rate health care systems.

Together, the United States, the European Union, Britain and Brazil - all upper-middle- or high-income countries - account for one-eighth of the world's population but nearly half of all reported deaths. The U.S. alone has recorded over 745,000 lives lost, more than any other nation.

"This is a defining moment in our lifetime," said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist at the Yale School of Public Health. "What do we have to do to protect ourselves so we don't get to another 5 million?"

https://www.startribune.com/covid-19s-global-death-toll-tops-5-million-in-under-2-years/600111954/