Global Coronavirus Deaths Surpass One Million

“I hate to say it, but unfortunately what I’m expecting is more people dying from this virus,” said Carlos Del Rio, a professor of medicine at Emory University who focuses on infectious disease and global health. “I sometimes feel like we’ve just given up and are going to let the epidemic continue.”

The outbreak has been even more deadly as a percentage of cases in some other countries, data from Johns Hopkins University show. More than 10% of observed cases in Mexico have ended in death. In Bolivia, France and Iran, that figure is more than 5%, while the mortality ratio in the U.S. is 2.9%. Reporting and testing capabilities vary around the world, so the true extent of the virus may be higher.

The disease has dealt a crushing blow to several developing nations, throwing tens of millions out of work and erasing gains made against poverty. In Brazil, which is second only to the U.S. in total fatalities from the disease, more than 140,000 people have died. In India, where total infections have topped more than six million, the virus continues to kill on average nearly 1,000 people a day.

Since emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus has spread world-wide. Government lockdowns aimed at stalling the spread unleashed devastating economic recessions that are ongoing.

Dr. Del Rio laid much of the blame for the current situation on political leaders in the U.S. and abroad, including President Trump. He pointed to some countries that have been successful in stopping the spread of the virus, despite having fewer resources. South Korea and New Zealand, for example, reported an average of just 2.5 new cases a day over the past two weeks.

Mr. Trump has consistently given his administration high marks for its response to the coronavirus.

He declared the U.S. was “rounding the corner” Monday, while announcing new details of a plan to distribute 150 million rapid coronavirus tests to states.

“We are relentlessly focused on protecting the vulnerable, while enabling healthy Americans to go back to work,” he said, repeating his promises to provide a vaccine in record time.

Public health officials warn of new case counts rising, as many countries, including the U.K. and the U.S., have failed to bring the virus in check in advance of the winter flu season and an expected resurgence of the coronavirus itself.

Officials in the U.K. last week announced new lockdown measures to combat a surge of infections. In New York City, the epicenter of infection in the early weeks of the U.S. pandemic before a prolonged lockdown brought the virus under control, the rate of new cases over the last two weeks was rising as of Sunday, data show.

The virus’s effects can even be seen in a rise in deaths from other causes, medical experts said. Stress, economic strain and fear of entering hospitals during the pandemic are likely factors in an increase in U.S. fatalities from heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Failure to roll out more rapid testing and to mandate mask-wearing even as states begin reopening schools and businesses are likely to further fuel the epidemic, said Dr. Del Rio.

The recent move by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to lift all restaurant seating restrictions and ban penalties for failing to wear masks is “not a strategy,” Dr. Del Rio said. “That’s a disaster. We keep on making the same mistakes.”

Mr. DeSantis said Friday that Florida was ready to move forward since new daily case counts and hospitalizations in the state have fallen substantially from their summer peaks, even as economic activity has increased and schools and theme parks have reopened across the state.

Health experts say a patchwork of confusing and sometimes conflicting rules across the U.S. has made it harder to curb the virus, and contributed to a surge of cases during the summer. A consistent national approach is the most effective way to combat a pandemic, epidemiologists say.

With a vaccine still months away, widespread mask usage, expanded testing and effective contact tracing are seen as integral to helping stop the spread and avoiding more shutdowns.

“It’s not going to go away just because we want it to be over,” Dr. Del Rio said, alluding to Mr. Trump’s public comments that the coronavirus would disappear on its own and that the U.S. has had an effective response to the pandemic. “I guess if you repeat something enough, eventually it can seem like the reality. But it’s not the reality.”

Corrections & Amplifications
A photograph of a New York City restaurant that appeared in an earlier version of this article was taken Friday. The caption incorrectly said it was taken Saturday. (Corrected on Sept. 28)

Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com