NEW YORK - The United States is "lagging dramatically behind" many countries on at-home COVID-19 testing, CNN reported Wednesday.

In the country hardest hit by COVID-19 in the world, people in urgent need of a home test kit are usually disappointed at empty pharmacy shelves and high prices, said the news channel.

The United States "was always behind" on testing through much of 2020, CNN quoted Robert Redfield, former director of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as saying.

The death toll of COVID-19 in the United States surpassed the grim milestone of 750,000 on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.