Johns Hopkins University’s death toll in the country reached 58,351 as of Tuesday night, surpassing the 58,220 who died during the Vietnam War that lasted almost 20 years, according to the National Archives.
But the rate of deaths during the so far three-month-long coronavirus pandemic outpaces the fatality rate during the deadliest year during the war, NPR reported. The current death rate reaches 17.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to in 1968, when 8.5 troops for every 100,000 residents were killed.
The coronavirus has also killed many people per day, with the daily death toll passing 2,000 eight days during April so far. The deadliest day of the Vietnam War occurred on Jan. 31, 1968, the day of the Tet Offensive, when 246 US people were killed, The Hill reported.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly compared the pandemic to fighting a war against the “invisible enemy.”
The Vietnam War is known for being the first war televised in US living rooms, and the coronavirus pandemic is also believed to be the first covered during a televised daily news cycle.
About 30 percent of the deaths in the US have occurred in New York, which has been badly struck by the virus, according to data from The New York Times.
The number of confirmed cases in the US surpassed 1 million on Tuesday, as the country has documented about a third of the cases confirmed worldwide. The US death toll comprises more than a quarter of the number of deaths worldwide.
Vietnam has currently reported 270 cases of coronavirus and no deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.