Reprinted with permission from Alternet

The United States has passed yet another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 500,000 U.S. residents have died from COVID-19. ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos discussed that milestone with expert immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who acknowledged that the death count was higher than it had to be.

Stephanopoulos asked Fauci, "Did this have to be?" — to which Fauci replied, "Well, certainly some of it. But not this bad, George. I mean, I believe that if you look back historically, we've done worse than most any other country. And we're a highly developed rich country."

Johns Hopkins, on Monday, reported that the worldwide death count from COVID-19 is more than 2.4 million and that the U.S. continues to lead the world in COVID-19 fatalities. The U.S., according to Hopkins, has more deaths from COVID-19 than two other coronavirus hotspots, Mexico and Brazil, combined.

Total deaths from COVID-19 are likely to be much higher than current official counts. Once the virus has receded, experts will be able to dig through the data and develop a more complete picture of the disease's impact, and the death toll is expected to be revised upward.