The U.S. has recorded 40 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to a database kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. reached the grim milestone Tuesday as the country deals with its fourth wave of cases, which has been prompted by the more contagious delta variant.
With a current seven-day average of about 150,000 new cases a day, the U.S. is currently in the midst of its second-largest spike since the start of the pandemic. The current wave is also largely avoidable, as COVID-19 vaccines are widely available across the country.
The U.S. leads the world in confirmed COVID-19 cases. In fact, U.S. cases represent more than 5% of all confirmed cases recorded around the globe. India is the only other country with nearly as many confirmed cases of COVID-19, with just over 33 million.
The U.S. also leads the world in confirmed COVID-19 deaths, with nearly 650,000. Brazil ranks second in COVID-19 deaths with nearly 584,000.