One year ago today, President Donald Trump declared a national day of prayer to stop the pandemic and called on the country to “pray for God’s healing hand to be placed on the people of our nation.”

More than 540,000 Americans died in that interval. That’s more than one American, every minute, for a year. By March 14, 2020, about 57 Americans had died from the coronavirus, according to the World Meters numbers. Exactly one year later, 547,234 Americans are dead. The Johns Hopkins numbers are similar.

Trump’s proclamation proves correct FFRF principal founder Anne Gaylor’s adage that “Nothing fails like prayer.”