Photo: Medical and funeral staff place the body of a covid-19 victim in a coffin at the University Emergency Hospital morgue in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Covid deaths have surpassed 1 million Americans, making the U.S. the first country in the world to reach the dreaded milestone of reported cases, according to a May 12 announcement by President Joe Biden.
The death toll raises the question of whether there will be an inquiry into the deaths, the worst ever tragedy in U.S. history.
“Today, we mark a tragic milestone: 1 million American lives lost to covid-19. One million empty chairs around the dinner table. Each an irreplaceable loss. Each leaving behind a family, a community, and a nation forever changed because of this pandemic. Jill and I pray for each of them,” Biden said in a statement.
“As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow. To heal, we must remember.”
About 60 percent of U.S. residents have so far been infected with covid-19, many from the recent omicron variant and subvariant waves, according to White House officials.
The Biden administration is seeking $22.5 billion from the U.S. Treasury to cover coronavirus pandemic-related expenses with the expectation that the next wave of infections could reach 100 million Americans this fall.
A combination of relaxed public health restrictions during cold weather and waning immunity amidst the increase in coronavirus variants would spell doom for the U.S., according to public health experts.
“Death is not the only serious outcome from covid,” said David Putrino, the director of rehabilitation innovation for the Mount Sinai Health System, adding that “long covid,” where severe symptoms persist for months, has caused more damage and left many with chronic illnesses.
A recent analysis by the Center for American Progress found that long covid resulted in an estimated 1.2 million more disabled people in 2021.
These effects of the pandemic were disproportionately heavy on Black people, who were infected, hospitalized and died of covid-19 at rates that were, at times, double those of white Americans.
The source of the outbreak has been the subject of many theories and an investigation by both the Donald Trump and Biden administrations. At the top of the list was a theory that the outbreak originated in a research lab in Wuhan, China.
A joint study of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese scientists showed that the lab-accident theory warrants further investigation.
The U.S. and 13 other countries dismissed the findings, calling for a “transparent and independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference and undue influence.”
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In the U.S., where an estimated 9 million family members are grieving the loss of a loved one to covid deaths, the investigation now focuses on whether or not the U.S. government and officials did enough to prevent the deaths.
The Trump administration was blamed for disregarding early warnings and not taking critical measures that could have saved tens of thousands of lives. Trump repeatedly assured Americans that the coronavirus was just like the flu and that it would disappear on its own.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert who has been called a truthsayer in the pandemic, has not been spared from blame.
Photo: Medical and funeral staff place the body of a covid-19 victim in a coffin at the University Emergency Hospital morgue in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
