10 things you need to know today: June 15, 2021

The U.S. reaches 600,000 coronavirus deaths, NATO focuses on China as Biden reassures allies, and more

Masks on a fence
(Image credit: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)

1. U.S. reaches 600,000 coronavirus deaths

The U.S. coronavirus death toll surpassed 600,000 on Monday, reaching the tragic milestone even as infection and death rates fall, and the economy reopens, according to a tally by Reuters. The U.S. total amounts to about 15 percent of COVID-19 deaths worldwide. The pain of the losses is preventing many families from returning to something like a pre-pandemic normal with the rest of the nation. "New York City is going back to quote-unquote 'normal' and opening up, but I can assure you that for my family there is no normal," said Shyvonne Noboa of Queens, whose family had 14 infections and one death, her grandfather. President Biden acknowledged the tally, and urged more people to get vaccinated.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.