More Americans have died of coronavirus than during Vietnam war
In less than three months since the first coronavirus-linked death was reported in the United States, the deadly virus has taken more American lives than the Vietnam war which concluded in 1975 after two decades of fighting. The fatalities due to the war stood at 58,220 and COVID-19 has killed 58,356 Americans. There is no clarity on when the rampage will end.
The Vietnam war spanned years, 1968 was deadliest one
One of the longest conflicts of US history, the Vietnam war started on 1 November 1955 and ended on 30 April 1975, after thousands of soldiers died. More than the US, Vietnam's military personnel lost their lives. In total, 612,000 civilians and 1.26 million soldiers were killed. In 1968, the war's deadliest year, the US lost 16,899 lives.
First COVID-19 death in US happened on February 6
Back then, Americans remained glued to televisions to understand what was happening on the other side of the world. And this time too, residents are doing the same, keeping a tab on the ill-effects of the pandemic. How contagious the disease is can be concluded from the fact that first coronavirus-related death happened on February 6. In less than three months, it battered US.
74,000 could die by August, predicted one model
Unfortunately, projections don't paint a good picture of the future. The US Coronavirus task force cited a model that predicted 74,000 lives could be lost by August. This is 7,000 more than the deaths that were projected last week. Experts also warned against lifting the restrictions saying it might reverse whatever good the country managed to do in the last couple of weeks.
Despite toll rising, Trump feels he is doing good job
When US President Donald Trump was asked if he should seek re-election considering coronavirus has proved to be more fatal than the Vietnam war, he replied, that projections claimed more than 2 million could die. "We're probably heading to 60,000-70,000. One person is far too many for this," Trump, who frequently thinks of him as "wartime" president fighting an invisible enemy, said.
He also feels China put 184 countries through hell
Trump has also been publicly chiding China for failing to control the disease. Coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019. In his latest tirade, he said China's failure to control the pandemic, in the beginning, led to 184 countries "going through hell". Several American lawmakers want the US to be less dependent on the Asian country for "manufacturing and minerals".
US also wants China to pay up
Trump also hinted that the US may seek a lot more money from China in damages than the $140 billion which Germany has sought. Congressman Brian Mast introduced legislation demanding to hold China accountable for its "coronavirus deception". "Congress must hold China accountable for their cover-up and force them to pay back the taxpayer dollars that have been spent as a result," Mast said.
