"What was once unthinkable has become a reality." One million people have died of COVID-19 in the United States, the White House said in a statement released Wednesday, ABC News reported. Some U.S. public health experts say the federal government should have done more to contain the outbreak.

One million deaths from COVID-19 remains a difficult reality for many to comprehend and accept. "This unimaginable tragedy will forever be written in the history books," said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Children's Hospital Boston. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it was "a tragedy of unprecedented proportions" in many ways.

In the early days of the pandemic, then-President Donald Trump predicted that the number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States would be well below 100,000, and Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, did not foresee a "shockingly high" death toll in the United States, according to US media. American public health experts, after repeatedly reviewing the uncertainty of the federal government's initial response to the outbreak, believe that the government should have done more to contain the Novel Coronavirus.

Mr Brownstein said the us federal government lacked the preparation, clarity of thinking and political will to properly respond to the novel Coronavirus threat in the early days of the pandemic. He added that even after reaching the previously unimaginable "milestone," there are still huge differences in the FIGHT against the disease in the United States. "Not only are there safe and effective vaccines, but the wearing of masks is still controversial."