The US has hit another bleak milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday when the death toll topped 200,000, by far the highest in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The real toll is thought to be much higher, as many COVID-19 deaths were probably blamed on other causes, especially when there was no widespread testing in the US.

Seven months have passed since the first known COVID-19 death was reported in the US on February 6, during which time the US government could have bent the curve of deaths downward.

The reality is that the Trump administration squandered every possible opportunity to contain the pandemic, leaving an average of more than 850 people dead from the disease every day.

"The idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering, in some respects, stunning," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US top infectious disease expert, said on CNN.

Truly, the death toll of 200,000 is not a cold, abstract figure, but vibrant lives who once lived on this planet.

Dr. Fauci had predicted and warned as early as in March that the pandemic could take away 200,000 lives in the US, but the administration just ignored his warning, and some officials even accused him of fear-mongering at that time.

CBS News reported that science has to rule the day; otherwise mistakes will be made, causing more lives lost. The Associated Press used harsher words, describing the grim milestone as "unfathomable," citing an emergency physician's words that the US failed miserably in the test of COVID-19.

It seems that not only the US media and public health experts are disappointed at the US containment of the pandemic. The country's allies are also frustrated as a recent survey by Pew Research Center shows the US has seen a sharp decline in its reputation among its key allies and partners, reaching record lows, partly because of the country's bad handling of the pandemic.

After all, there is still no unified national plan to contain the disease— no contact tracing system, or nationwide physical distancing policy.

The US has always prided itself on being the most powerful and the best-governed country in the world. But through the testing of COVID-19 pandemic, one can hardly see that.

The virus knows no borders, and the pandemic knows no race. The COVID-19 is the enemy of mankind. No one wants to see the loss of lives, and only cooperation can finally overcome the hardship.

But if certain senior US politicians cannot stop their political manipulation, it will be much painful to reach the end of the pandemic and its economic depression.