US records highest COVID-19 global death toll

The US has recorded the highest death toll in the world, surpassing 450,000 last week, according to a report by Qatar's state-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera on Saturday.

A year ago, the first known death related to COVID-19 occurred in the United States in Santa Clara County, California, the Qatar-based broadcaster said.

Patricia Dowd, 57, had reported flu-like symptoms and died unexpectedly at home on Feb 6, 2020. Her death was not initially linked to the coronavirus, but in April US media reported that Dowd had died from COVID-19.

On Thursday, the seven-day average for COVID-19 related deaths was 2,997 deaths per day, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

US President Joe Biden warned that the total number of deaths would pass half a million in February.

In the past 12 months, more than 26 million COVID-19 infections have been reported across the US, the Arabic television network reports.