US passes 350,000 COVID-19 deaths as post-holiday surge continues

Kate Feldman, New York Daily News

More than 350,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 so far, and health officials worry that number is going to keep spiking.

The U.S. hit the deadly landmark early Sunday morning, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. More than 20 million people have been infected so far.

Brazil, the country with the second-most deaths behind the U.S., has reported just over 195,000 fatalities.

The new record comes as multiple states, including North Carolina and Arizona, have reported a pandemic-high daily cases since the new year. California is beginning to run out of ICU beds in several counties.

New York surpassed 1 million cases on Friday, the fourth state to do so after California, Florida and Texas.

The rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines has been criticized for its slow progress so far, with about 13 million doses distributed and 4.2 million people having received their first shot. The Trump administration had previously predicted there would be 20 million first doses by the end of December.

“These cases are having an impact in an array of ways and people need to understand there is a finish line in sight but we have to keep running towards it,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on CNN Sunday morning.

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