(NEW YORK) — The United States has now seen more than a quarter of a million people die from COVID-19.

The U.S. passed the dire milestone late Wednesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University, which reported 250,029 deaths from the virus since the first case in America was identified in Washington state on January 20, 2020. 

The U.S. continues to have the greatest number of reported COVID-19 deaths and infections than any other country.  As of Wednesday afternoon, the total number of reported infections in the U.S. stood at 11,468,739, accounting for just over 20% of the world’s cases.  The number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. represents 18.5% of the world’s fatalities.

The U.S. has averaged more than 150,000 daily new cases of COVID-19 every day for the past 14 consecutive days, according to the Covid Tracking Project.  The most recent forecast by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, posted November 9, estimates the U.S. will see a total of 260,000 to 282,000 COVID-19 deaths by the week ending December 5.

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