NPR

Coronavirus Has Now Killed More Americans Than Vietnam War

The number of lives taken by COVID-19 in the U.S. has reached a grim milestone: More people have died of the disease than the 58,220 Americans who perished in the Vietnam War.
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit a new milestone, surpassing the number of Americans who died in the prolonged conflict with Vietnam. Here, the Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, N.Y., holds a vigil for medical workers and patients who have died in the pandemic.

In not even three months since the first known U.S. deaths from COVID-19, more lives have now been lost to the coronavirus pandemic on U.S. soil than the 58,220 Americans who died over nearly two decades in Vietnam.

Early Tuesday evening ET, the U.S. death toll reached 58,365,.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min readWorld
A Baby Girl Born Orphaned And Premature After An Israeli Airstrike In Gaza Has Died
The newborn died after five days in an incubator. Her family was killed in an air strike. UNICEF says 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, with thousands more orphaned and wounded.
NPR3 min readInternational Relations
Hamas Says It's Preparing To Respond To Israel's Latest Gaza Cease-fire Proposal
The militant group says it's examining the latest Israeli suggestions for a cease-fire in Gaza, seven months into the conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
NPR6 min readAmerican Government
Mike Johnson And The Troubled History Of Recent Republican Speakers
Johnson is the sixth Republican elevated to the speakership since 1994. The five who preceded him all saw their time in the office end in relative degrees of defeat or frustration.

Related Books & Audiobooks