'Enormous And Tragic': U.S. Has Lost More Than 200,000 People To COVID-19

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 200,000 on Tuesday — reaching what was once the upper limit of some estimates for the pandemic's impact on Americans. Some experts now warn that the toll could nearly double again by the end of 2020.

"I hoped we would be in a better place by now," said Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "It's an enormous and tragic loss of life."

COVID-19 is now one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., which has reported more than 6.8 million coronavirus cases – more than any other country, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. More than 31 million cases have been reported worldwide, including more than 965,000 deaths.

Potential vaccines are currently being tested, but even if a successful candidate emerges, it would likely take months or even years for it to become widely available.