The death toll from the novel coronavirus in the US has crossed one lakh, the highest for any country in the world, as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc across the globe by upending life and disrupting economic activity. The wave of deaths, one-third of which has come from the world-s financial capital of New York and neighbouring New Jersey and Connecticut, has had a devastating impact on American economy which has now gone into recession with an unprecedented over 35 million losing their jobs in the last three months. However, a silver lining is the rate of both deaths and new cases have been registering a decline, a development that has encouraged almost all of the 50 States to announce plans to reopen their economies.

"With the 100,000th recorded American death due to COVID-19, our nation marks a somber milestone. All across the country, families are mourning loved-ones lost to this disease," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. "It is difficult to comprehend the scope of this tragedy, and each of these 100,000 Americans is a parent, grandparent, sibling, child, and valued community member," he said after Johns Hopkins University which records the data reported that the death toll on Wednesday crossed the 100,000 mark.