Fueled by surges in Brazil, India, and elsewhere, the number of COVID-19 deaths worldwide has passed the 3 million mark. A million of those fatalities were recorded just since January—and come even as vaccination programs have driven down death rates in some countries. As the Associated Press notes, the deaths exceed the population of Chicago and are likely even higher than 3 million because some nations are believed to have under-reported the numbers. The United States accounts for more than 500,000 of the total deaths, and has still not gotten the pandemic fully under control. In Brazil alone, there are 3,000 deaths a day with no end in sight. “This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic, where we have proven control measures,” Maria Van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization told the AP.
