US coronavirus death toll passes 500,000 after devastating winter surge

Even with average number of daily new cases decreasing, US is still experiencing 1,500 to 3,500 deaths a day

More than 500,000 people have now died from Covid-19 in the US, just over a year after the country detected its first cases of a virus that has wrought almost unprecedented loss.

Deaths breached half a million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, bringing the total to 500,071 . More than 28 million people have also tested positive for coronavirus in the US.