Global Cases Top 3 Million as U.S. Cases Rise Above 1 Million
According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, global cases have reached 3,042,444. Active cases totaled 1,936,654, which is up by 43,412 in a day. Recovered cases reached 894,574, higher by 25,768. Deaths reached 211,216, which is 4,647 more than a day ago.
Three out of 10 confirmed cases worldwide are in the United States, where total confirmed cases hit 1,010,277. Active COVID-19 cases reached 839,789, an increase of 19,759. Recovered cases numbered 113,854, up by 4,543. And fatal cases in America hit 56,634, up 1,217.
Eight States Have Less Than 50 Deaths
Eight states have posted fewer than 50 deaths, a small figure even when their populations are taken into account. Among the most prevalent theories for why these counts are low and will remain so is the population density per square mile.
The fatality count in Alaska is nine, with a total of 345 confirmed cases. Montana’s death toll is 14, with 449 confirmed cases. Wyoming’s death toll is seven, against 491 confirmed cases. Hawaii’s fatal cases number 16, with 607 confirmed cases. The death toll in North Dakota is 19, against 942 confirmed cases. Vermont has 47 deaths and 855 cases. In West Virginia, it is 36 deaths and 1,063 cases. South Dakota has 11 deaths, with 2,245 cases.
With the exception of Hawaii, all these states have a relatively low population per square mile. Hawaii ranks 19th among all states with 222 people per square mile. (The top state by this measurement is New Jersey at 1,218.) Alaska has the fewest people per square mile in the United States at one. The next lowest are Wyoming at six and Montana at seven. North Dakota has 10 people per square mile, and South Dakota has 11. No other state has less than 12.
The “built-in” social distancing in most of these states may be the single largest barrier to the spread of COVID-19.
Very Few Cases in the Nordic Countries
The case and death counts in the five Nordic countries are low, even for their modest population sizes. The Kingdom of Sweden has 18,926 confirmed cases and 2,274 deaths. The Kingdom of Denmark has 8,851 and 427 deaths. In the Kingdom of Norway, it is 7,599 cases and 205 deaths. The Republic of Finland has 4,695 cases and 193 deaths, while Iceland has 1,792 cases and 10 deaths.
Sweden is the largest of these countries by population at 10,088,474. By comparison, Spain’s population is 46,771,940. So far, 23,822 people in Spain have died from COVID-19. Fewer than 2,300 have died in Sweden. Oddly, the “lockdown” rules in Sweden are not particularly severe, so there is no ready answer for why its counts are relatively low, or that its neighbors have posted even lower numbers. One theory is that the percentage of Sweden’s population that has been given any diagnosis at all is much lower than Spain’s, but there is no concrete support for that.
The Great Mystery of Nigeria
Among the major detective stories of the COVID-19 pandemic is how the seventh largest nation in the world by population could have a tiny number of confirmed cases and almost no deaths. Nigeria’s population is 206,139,587, which makes it 63% the size of the United States. It has 1,337 confirmed cases and 40 deaths. Again, the United States has over a million confirmed cases and more than 56,000 deaths.
The Nigerian numbers are undercounted by a huge margin. There are press reports of many undiagnosed deaths in several cities. With a primitive health care system, a government in disarray and parts of the population facing starvation, the COVID-19 counts in Nigeria may never be accurately stated.
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