The first COVID-19 death in the United States reportedly happened on February 6, 2020 (CNN). 114 days later, on May 30, 2020, one hundred thousand people in the U.S. were dead from COVID (dailytake). 115 days later, on September 22, 2020, two hundred thousand people were dead (dailytake). 84 days later, on December 15, 2020, the number dead was three hundred thousand (dailytake). And today, just 35 days later, on January 19, 2021, the death count has surpassed four hundred thousand (Al Jazeera, CDC, Johns Hopkins). This acceleration strongly suggests it will be less than month before there will be half a million Americans dead from a virus the U.S. has done such a poor job of fighting, despite early ambition and optimism (and some success) in developing a vaccine (Politico). I hope the incoming administration will take this issue more seriously than the last one did.