CONNECTICUT, United States (AP) — The United States surpassed a jarring milestone yesterday in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths. That number is the best estimate and most assuredly an undercount.

But it represents the stark reality that more Americans have died from the virus than from the Vietnam and Korea wars combined.

“It is a grim milestone,” said Josh Michaud, associate director of global health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington.

“It’s a striking reminder of how dangerous this virus can be.”

The stark reality comes as only half of Americans said they would be willing to get vaccinated if scientists are successful in developing a vaccine, according to a new poll released yesterday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, issued a stern warning after viewing video showing Memorial Day crowds gathered at a pool party in Missouri.

“We have a situation in which you see that type of crowding with no mask and people interacting. That’s not prudent and that’s inviting a situation that could get out of control,” he said during an interview on CNN.

“Don’t start leapfrogging some of the recommendations in the guidelines, because that’s really tempting fate and asking for trouble.”

After months of lockdowns in countries around the world, places have begun reopening in stages. Mediterranean beaches and Las Vegas casinos laid out plans to welcome tourists again. Churches began opening up.

And humans restless at being cooped up indoors for weeks began venturing outside in droves, often without practising safe social distancing or wearing protective coverings. Summertime is already a time when more people head outdoors.

This year, it also means the every-four-years national political conventions in the United States during which the two major political parties anoint a presidential candidate.

The events generally draw thousands of delegates and others, who converge for several days. Fauci said it’s too early to say whether this year’s conventions should be held as normal.

“If we have a really significant diminution in the number of new cases and hospitalisations and we’re at a level where it’s really very low, you might have some capability of gathering,” he said.

“But I think we need to reserve judgment right now because we’re a few months from there. Hopefully we will see that diminution. If we don’t, then I would have significant reservations about that.”

And other public health experts cautioned that even more death is in the offing.

“Despite the terrible losses seen and the many difficulties Americans have faced to date in this pandemic, we’re still probably only in the early stages,” said Josh Michaud, associate director of global health policy with the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington.

“In the US we could be looking at a long pandemic summer with a slow burn of cases and deaths. There’s also reason to be concerned about a new wave of infections in the fall. So, we’re definitely not out of the woods yet.”

South Korea announced a spike in new infections and considered reimposing social distancing restrictions, revealing the setbacks ahead for other nations on the road to reopening.

That country reported 40 newly confirmed cases — the biggest daily jump in nearly 50 days.

All but four of the cases were in the densely populated Seoul region, where officials are scrambling to stop transmissions linked to nightclubs, karaoke rooms and a massive e-commerce warehouse.

All were reopened last month when social distancing measures were relaxed. Worldwide, the virus has infected nearly 5.6 million people and killed over 350,000, including about 170,000 in Europe according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University of government reports, which experts say does not show the entire scope of the pandemic.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Johns Hopkins tally of deaths in the US hovered just below 100,000.

In the US, President Donald Trump several months ago likened the coronavirus to the flu and dismissed worries that it could lead to so many deaths. The Administration’s leading scientists have since warned that as many as 240,000 Americans could die in the country’s outbreak.

According to the AP-NORC poll, about half of Americans said they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if scientists working to create one succeed. The poll found 31 per cent simply weren’t sure if they’d get vaccinated, another 1 in 5 said they’d refuse. Among Americans who say they wouldn’t get vaccinated, 7 in 10 worry about safety.

“I am not an anti-vaxxer,” said Melanie Dries, 56, of Colorado Springs, Colorado. But, “to get a COVID-19 vaccine within a year or two…causes me to fear that it won’t be widely tested as to side effects”.

Among those who want a vaccine, the AP-NORC poll found protecting themselves, their family and the community are the top reasons. “I’m definitely going to get it,” said Brandon Grimes, 35, of Austin, Texas.

“As a father who takes care of his family, I think…it’s important for me to get vaccinated as soon as it’s available to better protect my family.”

Most people who get COVID-19 have mild cases and recover. However, the coronavirus has been seen attacking in far stealthier ways — from blood clots to heart and kidney damage. Whatever the final statistics show about how often it kills, health specialists agree the new coronavirus appears deadlier than the typical flu.

Worldwide, about a dozen COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in early stages of testing or poised to begin. Comparing how the virus has impacted different countries is tricky, given varying levels of testing and the fact that some coronavirus deaths can be missed.

According to figures tracked by Johns Hopkins University, the death rate per 100,000 people is lower in the US than Italy, France and Spain but higher than Germany, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

“The experience of other countries shows that death at that scale was preventable,” Kaiser Family Foundation’s Michaud said.

“To some extent the United States suffers from having a slow start and [an] inconsistent approach. We might have seen a different trajectory if different policies were put into place earlier and more forcefully.”

Countries with low death rates suppressed the virus “through lots of testing, contact tracing and policies to support isolation and quarantine of people at risk”, Michaud said.

The White House said the president was committed to holding a Fourth of July celebration in the nation’s capital even as local officials warned that the region — one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus — will not be ready to hold a major event so soon.