VIRUS TODAY: US death toll from COVID-19 passes 400,000

Here's what's happening Tuesday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.:

THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

— The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has topped 400,000 in the final hours of Donald Trump’s presidency. The milestone comes almost exactly a year after health officials diagnosed the nation’s first case of the virus, and after months of efforts by Trump to downplay the threat and his administration’s responsibility to confront it. The number of dead is about equal to the population of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Tampa, Florida; or New Orleans. It is just short of the estimated 409,000 Americans who died in 2019 of strokes, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, flu and pneumonia combined. By week’s end, the toll will probably surpass the number of Americans killed in World War II.

— Mutations to the virus are rapidly popping up. Each new infection gives the virus a chance to alter itself. So far, vaccines seem to remain effective against the new variants, but the longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely it is that a version of the virus that can elude defenses could emerge. Health officials say the more contagious variant first identified in Britain may become dominant in the U.S. by March. That could mean more hospitalizations and deaths.

— Dozens of clinics have cropped up around the U.S. to address a puzzling and troubling aspect of COVID-19 — the effects that can stubbornly afflict some people weeks or months after the infection itself has subsided. The symptoms can include pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression and foggy-headedness.

THE NUMBERS: The U.S. is averaging about 207,000 new cases and more than 3,200 deaths each day.

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