US medical professionals gather to protest for personal protective equipment at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California on Monday local time as the mounting infections have strained the country's medical resources and cause tensions between hospitals and medics. Photo: cnsphoto

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US exceeded 1 million on Tuesday, making the country the only one with more than a million infections. More than 56,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the US. On Monday, global coronavirus cases passed 3 million, meaning one in three patients is in the US. The US government has failed its people and also failed the world. 

The US is home to more than 300 million people. If the same proportion of infections were to have occurred in China, a country with over 1.4 billion people, 4 million people would have been infected, about 50 times more than the actually number of reported cases. If that had happened, it would mean the epidemic situation in all Chinese provinces was worse than in Hubei. China's overall level of medical treatment is lower than that of the US. It is possible that China could have fallen into such a humanitarian disaster.

Chinese people won't allow their country to suffer vast infections like the US. The US hasn't been in chaos, not because Americans have willingly accepted their sufferings from COVID-19 but because they are in too much despair to fight. 

Americans are desperately seeing the epidemic spread nationwide, as politicians duck responsibility and blame each other with some intending to reopen business even as the crisis escalates. 

US way of social organizations have shown an inability to contain the coronavirus, while politicians are busy focusing on elections, and US society is in a mess and incapable of mobilizing a nationwide battle against COVID-19. Ordinary Americans can only take care of themselves.

The US government is supposed to do the following things. First, it needs to apologize to its people and admit it has mishandled the epidemic. Second, it must learn lessons and take decisive measures to fight against the virus and reduce infections and deaths. Third, it should push forward international cooperation and create conditions for a global fight to eliminate the novel coronavirus. 

However, the US government has done none of those things. The US Democrats have not served as a supportive force to unite US society at this critical moment, and instead have eyed on the elections and placed their political interests above the life-threatening epidemic. This has caused the American people great grief. 

US-styled democratic politics has become polarized. It hasn't borne its due responsibilities at this critical and historic moment, nor has it fostered unity of US society. The US is fighting a chaotic battle against the virus, with huge losses and few gains. The number of infections has reached 1 million, but the US prevention and control work remains in a mess. 

There is still great uncertainty with its future work. Passing the buck to China is a very vulgar trick. It can only help the federal government and the Republican Party to divert public attention and gain some election benefits. It is of no help to the US anti-epidemic situation, nor will it lead US society to reflect on the failures. Such a situation is precisely a manifestation of political weakness of the US. 

The number of infections and deaths will continue to rise. Americans, especially the poor, are still facing severe threats from COVID-19. The rich can shelter at home and receive better treatment even if they are infected. But it's a different case with the poor, whose infection and death rates are much higher.  A super power shouldn't lead the virus fight in this way. It's time for the US to wake up.