US death toll in pandemic exceeds one from WWI

The number of Americans who died in World War I is 116,516. Both figures are far from precise, due to a lack of testing during the pandemic and the challenges of counting the dead in the trenches of World War I a century ago.

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 now exceeds the number of American service members who died in World War I. The current pandemic mortality tally for the United States from Johns Hopkins University reached 116,526 on Tuesday. The number of Americans who died in World War I is 116,516.

Both figures are far from precise, due to a lack of testing during the pandemic and the challenges of counting the dead in the trenches of World War I a century ago. But historians and the Congressional Research Service believe that 116,516 is the best figure for WWI battlefield deaths.