(NBC News) The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 500,000 on Sunday, according to an NBC News tally — a milestone that underscores the grave threat the virus still poses even as more people are vaccinated.
The coronavirus has killed more than 2,462,000 people worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than a fifth of all deaths worldwide have occurred in the the U.S., which has less than 5 percent of the global population.
NBC News’ tally showed that about 500,700 people had died of Covid-19 as of midnight Sunday ET. The number rivals the populations of Atlanta and Sacramento, California.