More than 6 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19.
According to a database by the New York Times, more than 6,004,500 people have been infected and nearly 183,000 Americans have died as of Sunday evening.
While the pace of new cases is slowing, the latest milestone is a reminder of the scope of the pandemic: the Times noted that it took more than three months to hit 1 million reported cases, but just 22 days to go from 5 million to 6 million. It took just 16 days to go from 4 million cases to 5 million, the Times reported.
Nearly 900 new deaths and 44,639 new cases were reported across the country on Saturday, the Times reported. Nearly 42,000 new cases were reported each day for the last week, a dip from last week’s average by 4%, according to the Times.
Daily death totals are approaching 200,000, far fewer than the pandemic’s peak months ago, but nearly double the average for July, the Times found.
The United States, by far, has the most confirmed cases reported. The second-closest country is Brazil, with 3.8 million cases, followed by India, with 3.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Russia is reporting just under 1 million cases.
In Massachusetts, public health officials on Sunday reported 174 new cases of COVID-19 and 13 more deaths linked to the virus.
The commonwealth has tallied at least 118,483 cases of coronavirus and 8,816 deaths since the pandemic began, the state Department of Public Health said Sunday.
The latest totals come as state and national public health officials are encouraging or requiring Americans, including students, to get flu vaccines. Public health experts have long worried about a tough flu season hitting right as the nation tries to pull out of the pandemic during vaccine development.
People gathered in Boston Sunday outside the State House to protest the mandated flu vaccine.
“It is always a good idea to get the flu vaccine but especially this year with the #COVID19 pandemic,” FDA Administrator Dr. Stephen Hahn tweeted on Sunday. “Reducing the number of people who get the flu is a national priority.”
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