WASHINGTON: Covid-19 deaths in the United States topped 200,000 on Saturday while more than 6,740,400 confirmed cases were also recorded.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre had recorded 198,921 deaths by Friday afternoon, which crossed the 200,000 mark on Saturday.

Another monitoring agency, Worldometer, reported 203,503 deaths by Saturday afternoon.

Dr Tom Frieden, former director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told NBC News that such high death rate could have been prevented but Washington failed to take necessary precautions.

“Tens of thousands of people would not have died if the US response had been more effective,” said Frieden, now president of Resolve to Save Lives, a global public health initiative.

The US media noted that the country was still facing many challenges in overcoming the pandemic, including agreeing on even the most basic facts.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2020