More than
000,000
people have died from coronavirus in the U.S.

The disease caused by the novel coronavirus has killed at least   people in the United States since February 2020 and has enveloped nearly every part of the country.

The deadliest month was January 2021, when an average of more than 3,100 people died every day of covid-19. On six days that month, the number topped 4,000. On Feb. 22, the U.S. death toll surpassed half a million people.

Counts of new cases and hospitalizations plummeted in January and deaths followed in February, but numbers began to tick up again in March as some states loosened restrictions. President Biden urged the nation to be patient and to keep wearing masks as health officials feared the pandemic was entering a fourth wave.

Meanwhile, the pace of vaccinations ramped up and topped 3 million per day on some days in March, racing against time as new, more transmissible variants of the virus began to spread.

[Tracking vaccination numbers in every state]

Seven-day averages show trends better than single-day values, because states’ reporting of new cases and deaths tends to drop on weekends.

Numbers have fluctuated as testing and reporting criteria have evolved, particularly in areas that were hit early. Three spikes in the deaths chart above reflect large, one-time adjustments in 2020: In mid-April, New York City added more than 3,700 deaths. On June 25, New Jersey added more than 1,800. And in September, The Post changed its methodology for reporting deaths in New York and added a one-day increase of more than 2,700. Other single-day spikes have occurred as states have updated their reporting procedures and are noted below those charts.

Health officials, including the country’s top infectious-disease expert, Anthony S. Fauci, have said the virus has killed more people than official death tolls indicate.

[Visualizing half a million deaths, a number almost too large to grasp]

[Mapping the spread of the coronavirus worldwide]

The virus was initially concentrated in New York, where at least   have died, and in places where vulnerable people congregate, such as nursing homes, factories and prisons. It eventually blanketed the country, reaching into some of the most remote areas.

In December, most states reported record-high case counts, deaths and demand for hospital beds that continued and in some places worsened in the new year before beginning to fall in January and early February.

In the absence of a federal plan, containment strategies varied by state and locality and often reflected political polarization. The mounting crush of cases in fall and winter, however, prompted officials of both parties to tighten mask mandates and reimpose restrictions on gatherings to try to squelch the spread.

Immediately after his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Biden, hoping to stall the virus’s spread while ramping up vaccine distribution, issued mask mandates on federal property, in airports and on many modes of transportation.

By March, governors in some states, particularly Republican-led states such as Texas, went the other way, lifting mask mandates and business restrictions just as the weather began to warm and many colleges let out for spring break.

[Tracking known coronavirus cases in D.C., Maryland and Virginia]

People older than 65 and those with obesity and underlying health problems are the mostly likely to die of covid-19, but a large percentage of infections have occurred in younger, more mobile people. People younger than 40 tend to become less sick but also unknowingly may pass the disease to others around them.

Outbreaks have hit Black, Hispanic and Native American communities particularly hard.

[What you need to know about the coronavirus]

And a global analysis found a worrisome connection between covid-19 and diabetes in people who had no previous history of blood-sugar problems.

Some sparsely populated areas rank among the highest in deaths and cases per capita.

People in very rural areas may be more vulnerable to covid-19 than urbanites, according to a Washington Post analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Ten counties with highest rates of reported cases

Testing was slow to begin, and a system has yet to be standardized. Demand has often overwhelmed testing infrastructure, muddying the ability of officials to get a true picture of the virus’s reach.

During the winter crush, hospitals, unable to find enough beds and health-care workers, had to limit routine care, defer non-emergency surgeries, divert some patients to distant facilities and send others home with monitoring equipment.

[What you need to know about the different types of vaccines]

Fortunately, testing and treatment technologies have advanced as the pandemic has dragged on. At-home tests and an antibody treatment have been approved, and on Feb. 1, the White House announced that it was investing in a low-cost, rapid at-home test that should be widely available without a prescription sometime this year.

Most importantly, of course, on Dec. 14, the first approved coronavirus vaccine began going into American arms, and two more soon followed.

The rollout had many hiccups and glitches but is now going more smoothly, and some places have opened vaccination opportunities to all adults. On March 11, Biden directed all states to do that by May 1. Fauci said trials are in progress that may allow for vaccination of children in time for school in the fall.

[Many who have received the coronavirus vaccine wonder: What can I safely do?]