The US is about to top 500,000 Covid-19 deaths. That’s why it’s critical to keep up safety measures, Fauci says

Just over a year since the first known US Covid-19 death, more than 500,000 people will have died from the disease by the end of this week.

"It's something that is historic. It's nothing like we've ever been though in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"It really is a terrible situation that we've been through and that we're still going through. And that's the reason why we keep insisting to continue with the public health measures — because we don't want this to get much worse than it already is."

More than 498,700 people have died from Covid-19 in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University.

And another 91,000 Americans are projected to die from the disease by June 1, according to the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Plans are underway for President Joe Biden to mark the 500,000 deaths as soon as Monday. The President is planning to deliver remarks and hold a candle lighting ceremony at the White House around sundown, if the threshold is crossed, a White House official said.

Decreases in new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks have prompted some state and local leaders to loosen restrictions.

But as new coronavirus variants spread, health experts say it's critical to double down on safety measures to prevent yet another catastrophic surge.

"The most uncertain driver of the trajectory of the epidemic over the next four months is how individuals will respond to steady declines in daily cases and deaths," the IHME team wrote.

"More rapid increases in mobility or reductions in mask use can easily lead to increasing cases and deaths in many states in April."