Bing COVID-19 Report April 24, 2020 (6:30 AM EST)

Global Cases Spike Above 2.7 Million, as U.S. Cases Approach 900,000. Some of the World’s Largest Countries Have Almost No Cases.

The Bing COVID-19 Tracker Report

Global cases of COVID-19 rose above 2.7 million. Of these, 1,775,756 were active cases, which was up 80,956 from a day earlier. Recovered cases reached 742,855. Fatal cases hit 190,872, up 7,448. Fatalities almost certainly will top 200,000 globally within the next two days.

In the United States, 890,027 total cases have been reported. Active cases reached 756,812, up 30,287 from the day before. Fatal cases reached 50,372, which was 2,398 more in a day. The increase in the number of deaths per day nationwide has dropped modestly from a week ago.

New York Remains Deeply Troubled

New York State has 263,632 cases, which is 30% of the national figure. Coronavirus deaths in the state, at 17,671, are 35% of the national total. New York City’s case total is 145,855, which is 16% of the national count, and 11,267 deaths are 22% of the national figure.

The difference between New York City and America’s second-largest city, Los Angeles, is stark. The New York City metropolitan area has 19,216,182 residents. The Los Angeles metro has a population of 13,214,799. Los Angeles County, which holds most but not all of the metro area, has 17,508 COVID-19 cases and 797 deaths. The LA metro also includes Orange County, which has 1,827 cases and 36 deaths.

States With the Most Cases

New Jersey has the second-largest number of cases among the states. It has posted 99,989 confirmed cases and 5,368 deaths, up 305 from a day earlier. Massachusetts has 46,023 COVID-19 cases, and 2,360 people have died in the state. That is 178 more in the past day.

California has 39,009 cases. Deaths in the largest state by population stood at 1,512, and they rose by 93 during the past day. Pennsylvania has 37,069, of which 1,622 are fatal. Of these, 10,090 cases are in Philadelphia County, which has recorded 365 fatal COVID-19 cases.

Illinois has 36,934 cases. Fatal cases number 1,688, up 123 in a day. Cook Country, which includes the City of Chicago, has posted 25,811 cases and 1,142 deaths, or 140 more than the day before. Michigan has 35,291 cases. COVID-19 deaths in the state stand at 2,977, up 164 from a day earlier. Wayne County, which includes the City of Detroit, has 14,994 cases, which is 42% of the state’s cases. Deaths in Wayne County totaled 1,396, an increase of 649 in a day. Wayne County’s death toll is 46% of the state’s total.

In contrast, some of the nation’s largest states by population still do not have relatively high case counts. Texas has a total population of 28,304,596. That puts it behind California’s 39,536,653 and ahead of Florida at 20,984,400 and New York at 19,849,399. Yet, Texas has only 21,944 cases, which ranks it 11th among all states, and it has reported only 561 deaths. Virginia ranks 10th among states in population at 8,535,519. It comes in 18th with 10,998 COVID-19 cases and 372 deaths. It is unclear whether these anomalies have to do with the spread of the disease or the method each state uses to track COVID-19 figures.

Some of the World’s Largest Countries Have Few Cases

For reasons that have not been explained entirely, some of the world’s largest nations by population have many fewer cases than the United States and the major European countries.

India’s population is 1,361,382,447, just behind global leader China, which has a population of 1,402,335,080. However, India ranks 16th in cases at 23,077 and has reported only 718 deaths. It ranks behind Switzerland, on both counts, which has a population of 8,603,899, and it has 28,496 cases and 1,549 deaths.

Pakistan is the world’s fifth-largest nation by population at 219,379,520. However, it ranks 30th in cases with just 11,155. Its death total is 237, smaller than any large American city.

Nigeria is the world’s seventh-largest nation by population at 206,139,587. It ranks 92nd among all nations, with 981 confirmed cases and 31 deaths, which seems improbable.

Why are the disparities between population and COVID-19 cases so large in these countries? Most do not have highly evolved health care systems, nor do they have sophisticated ways to gather population data. An additional possibility is that COVID-19 has hit some countries much earlier than others as it spreads around the world.