"Unless it aggressively implements the lessons to be learned from successful nations, we fear the U.S. death rate may rise to 200 times that of China," warned the Time magazine.

The sobering death rate in the United States is a result of the country's "sluggish" anti-epidemic response, said an article published recently by Time magazine.

"The stark disparity in COVID-19 death rates between the U.S. and other countries illustrates the enormous difference between the effectiveness of the U.S. and successful countries' responses to the pandemic," said the article published Wednesday and titled "U.S. Response to COVID-19 is Worse than China's. 100 Times Worse."

The article specifically made a comparison between the epidemic responses of the United States and China, as the former's death rate is now "100 times greater" than the latter's.

"By Dec. 31, Chinese authorities had informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the threat. By Jan. 12, Chinese scientists had identified the virus that causes the illness and shared its genetic sequence with the world so that all countries could develop COVID-19 tests and begin working on a vaccine," the article said.

The Asian country also implemented "a massive lockdown" in Wuhan and deployed thousands of medical staff to the city, sped up testing and contact tracing to isolate new cases, and built temporary medical facilities to hospitalize COVID-19 patients -- steps that have controlled the virus' spread at home, "buying time for other parts of the country to prepare," it said.

This is a screen-capture of a Tweet posted by Gavin Yamey on June 10, 2020, who is a columnist for the Time magazine. (Xinhua)

In contrast, the United States, due to a "much-delayed" response from the federal government and most state governments, "gave the virus weeks to spread unfettered and virtually undetected," it said.

"Unfortunately, we see little sign that the federal government is mounting the kind of urgent, nationwide, coordinated approach that is need to reverse current trends," the article said, adding that the country lacks enough daily tests and contact tracing to safely end social distancing.

Unlike some countries taking swift and coordinated actions, the United States has only obtained a "patchwork of varying state policies and often-contradictory messaging about safety measures," which will not only further endanger human health, but also harm the U.S. economy, it said.

"Unless it aggressively implements the lessons to be learned from successful nations, we fear the U.S. death rate may rise to 200 times that of China," it added.