The United States has surpassed 500,000 COVID-19 deaths as of this Monday. Currently, the country’s total virus death toll is higher than any other country in the world. While many argue that this is because of the large population in the States, it could also be argued that this staggering number is to be blamed on a nationwide government failure to enforce safety precautions and laws to combat the spread of the virus. To put it in perspective, more people have died in the past year from coronavirus-related deaths than those who fought in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined. Additionally, there are 525,600 minutes in a year, which means that for almost every minute in the year, someone has died due to the virus.

As we almost reach a year with the virus, it’s hard to say whether things will get better soon or worsen. Complacency is probably the biggest reason why this country is struggling so much to battle the pandemic. If people continue to disregard the dangers of the virus and continue to turn the virus into a political issue, how can we expect to move forward?