The death toll of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. surpassed 750,000, as the country remained the worst-hit country with about 46 million cases, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University on Thursday.

COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. account for more than 15 percent of the global death toll, and it is responsible for 18 percent of the worldwide caseload. The total number of people who have died from COVID-19 is even more than the population of some states such as Vermont and Wyoming.

As the delta variant swept the U.S. this summer, the unvaccinated have tended to contract the virus more easily, leading to increased hospitalizations and deaths.

Recently, the country has faced an average of over 1,000 deaths daily. However, some states chose to not run tests to track the virus although federal funding is available, according to Reuters.

As the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic burns through the rural U.S. state of Idaho, health officials say they don't have enough tests to track the disease's spread or sufficient medical workers to help the sick.

It's not because of lack of money.

The state's Republican-led legislature this year voted down $40 million in federal aid available for COVID-19 testing in schools. Another $1.8 billion in pandemic-related federal assistance sits idle in the state treasury, waiting for lawmakers to deploy it.

Some Idaho legislators have accused Washington of overreach and reckless spending. Others see testing as disruptive and unnecessary, particularly in schools, since relatively few children have died from the disease.

Meanwhile, the state is reporting the fifth-highest infection rate in the United States, at 369 confirmed cases per 100,000 people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The case is not unique. A dozen Republican-controlled states have rejected billions of dollars available through the landmark 2010 Affordable Health Care Act to cover more people under the Medicaid health program for the poor, which is jointly funded by the federal government and the states.

Critics say Idaho's reluctance to use more federal aid is a symptom of its hands-off approach to COVID-19 safety. Few public schools require masks, and local leaders have refused to impose mask mandates, limits on indoor gatherings and other steps to contain the virus. 

Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with only 55% of adults and teens fully immunized, compared to 67 percent nationally. 

So far, the U.S. has administered over 425 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and distributed 525 million doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

(With input from Reuters)