Bing COVID-19 Tracker Report 5/18/2020 (6:25 AM): American Deaths Near 90,000, While Cases Top 1.5 Million

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Bing COVID-19 Tracker Report 5/18/2020 (6:25 AM): American Deaths Near 90,000, While Cases Top 1.5 Million

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According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, the number of global cases has reached 4,710,614. Active cases hit 2,663,247, which is 36,125 higher than yesterday, as well as 57% of the total of confirmed cases worldwide. Recovered cases rose by 38,659 to 1,732,344. For the time being, active cases and recovered cases are in balance. Fatal cases hit 315,023, a one-day gain of 3,202, and are now 6.7% of the world’s confirmed case total.

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States have hit 1,516,343, which is 33% of the world’s total. They topped 1.5 million a day ago. The number of active cases increased by 10,432 to 1,145,219, and recovered cases hit 281,192, higher by 8,667.

Fatal cases in America have hit 89,932, a gain of 512 in a day. They are 29% of the world’s total and 6% of U.S. confirmed cases. Deaths should reach 90,000 in the next day.

Los Angeles Trouble Rises

Despite its size, Los Angeles County has had relatively few confirmed cases and deaths. It is the largest county in the United States, with 10,105,518 residents. That is well ahead of the second-largest county, which is Cook County, home to Chicago. Cook County has 5,180,493 residents.

Los Angeles County has posted 37,974 confirmed cases and 1,821 deaths. The fatal case figure is below Wayne County’s 2,213. Wayne County is home to Detroit.

There is no ready answer as to why the Los Angeles County count is low. Perhaps it is demographics. Los Angeles has extremely rich areas, which include Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and San Marino. Wayne County does not have large areas of wealthy residents.

Scientists believe that COVID-19 deaths are tied, in many cases, to poverty. Los Angeles County is much better off in this category than Wayne County.

Another reason may be population density. While Los Angeles County covers 4,751 square miles, Wayne County covers just 673.

The Odd Case of Indonesia

Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world as measured by population, at 273,523,615. That is 82% of the 331,002,651 U.S. total. Yet, Indonesia has only 18,010 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,191 deaths. This is fewer than in Los Angeles County.

There could be several reasons. Indonesia is spread across 17,000 islands, which makes population data collection impossible. It has an emerging nation government, which is unlikely to have the means to collect accurate health data.

Indonesia probably has tens of thousands of confirmed cases and thousands of deaths. There is little chance the exact number will be measured.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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