Just a little over a year after the coronavirus was first identified, the world has recorded more than 3 million deaths Saturday from the disease.
More than 140 million people around the world have contracted COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has the most COVID-19 deaths, with more than 566,000. Brazil has reported almost 370,000 deaths; Mexico more than 211,000 deaths; India has reported about 175,000 deaths, and the United Kingdom has had more than 127,000 deaths from COVID-19
Cases in America have plateaued in recent weeks; while vaccination rates have rapidly increased, so has the spread of variants, in addition to the reopening of businesses and gathering events.
The combination of factors is keeping COVID-19 case rates level, and in some parts of the country, rising sharply. The number of COVID-19 deaths in this country is also tragically holding steady at around 1,000 a day for the last several weeks.
The Biden administration on Friday announced a $1.7 billion infusion to help with tracking and identifying coronavirus variants.
The funding was approved by Congress as part of the coronavirus relief bill.