The U.S. surpassed yet another grim milestone amid the COVID-19 pandemic: 800,000 deaths attributed to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers marked the moment with a moment of silence on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The U.S. surpassed the marker just days after recording 50 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. Both totals lead all other countries.
The 800,000 COVID-19 deaths represent 125,000 more U.S. fatalities than were recorded during the 1918 flu pandemic. A population of 800,000 also represents a city nearing the size of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The milestone comes a year after the initial distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 61% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. An additional 27% of the country has gotten a booster dose.
WebMD reports that about 400,000 people in the U.S. have died of the virus this year alone.
The marker also comes as the world faces a new threat posed by COVID-19, the omicron variant. While much is still to be learned about the new strain, scientists fear omicron could be more transmissible and deadly than past variants.
