Two years later, the coronavirus remains widespread.

This month marks two years since the novel coronavirus, and by extension COVID-19, became a publicly-known safety threat. While the disease was technically discovered at the very end of 2019, hence the name, it was at the very end of January that cases began to spread out globally from its suspected point of origin in Wuhan, China. According to data collected by John Hopkins University, since the pandemic officially began, the United States has registered 69 million COVID-19 cases, with 859,000 confirmed COVID-related deaths.

“These last two years have brought transformational advancements spanning vaccines, treatments and testing. Though these tools are having a clear impact on reducing poor outcomes, we are still seeing one of the worst surges to date,” John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, told ABC.

“After 24 months and unprecedented medical innovation, the last month has brought millions of cases and tens of thousands of deaths. While many might declare victory on the pandemic, we are clearly very far from where want we want to be right now, especially with billions of people yet to be vaccinated,” Brownstein said.

While case averages have dropped from the height of the pandemic, the US is still experiencing hundreds of thousands of new COVID infections every day, at three times the rate seen this time last year. Medical techs believe that the newest surge brought about the emergence of the Omicron variant may be starting to recede, but hospitals around the country are still stretched to their absolute limit as patients pour in.

“This is a very difficult time during this surge. We are seeing high case numbers and hospitalization rates… we’re also seeing strain in many of our hospitals around the country,” Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN. “The next few weeks will be tough.”