Health and Healthcare

Bing COVID-19 Tracker 6/25/2020 (7:35 AM): New York Becomes Center of Recovery

24/7 Wall St. Staff

Published: June 25, 2020 7:35 am

Last Updated: June 25, 2020 7:36 am

According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, the number of global cases has reached 9,394,558, an extraordinary surge of 240,326. That is five times the increase from the day before. While confirmed case growth has slowed in the United States, the United Kingdom and most of the rest of Europe, it has picked up in Russia, India and Latin America. Active cases number 4,197,004 and are 45% of the total of confirmed cases worldwide. The recovered case count is 4,716,476, which is up by 131,454. The positive difference between the daily increase in recovered cases and active cases continues to show improvement, and the spread moved above 500,000 for the first time, one of the few good signs as the disease continues to spread.

It is notable that several nations that had a slowing of confirmed cases have become hotspots again. This includes, in particular, the United States and Germany. The increase in confirmed cases has risen above 30,000 in the United States over the past four days, a major acceleration. Several large states are responsible for the U.S. swell, including the three largest states by population: California, Texas and Florida.

Global fatal cases have hit 481,078, a sharp one-day gain of 7,428. That increase is more than double the day before, and at the current rates the number could hit 500,000 in a matter of days. Deaths are just above 5% of the world’s confirmed cases total. Many experts believe the death count is much too low, largely because many developing nations cannot track or accurately count numbers.

Total confirmed cases in the United States, the hardest-hit nation, have reached 2,425,975. The surge of 34,639 is among the largest increases in several weeks. U.S. confirmed cases are 26% of the world’s total. Active COVID-19 cases there totaled 1,555,364, and recovered cases were at 746,881, after rising by 6,964. It remains a bad sign that there are many more active cases than recovered ones. American coronavirus fatalities hit 123,730, or 745 higher in a day.

In Brazil, the second hardest hit nation, confirmed cases have reached 1,192,474, up by 40,995 and still growing rapidly. The rise in confirmed cases was more than the increase in the United States. The death count rose by 1,103 to 53,874. That growth also was higher than the comparable U.S. number. Carefully followed forecasts from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show that COVID deaths in Brazil will move ahead of those in the United States by the end of July.

Russia has the third-highest number of confirmed cases at 613,994, but its increase of 7,113 remains relatively low. That is a fraction of the confirmed case increase in either the United States or Brazil. The nation posted a COVID-19 death increase of just 92 to 8,605, again much smaller than the growth in the two hardest-hit nations.

India, the fourth hardest hit country, also posted relatively small figures compared to Brazil. It has a confirmed case count of 474,380, a modest increase of 16,957. Deaths have reached 14,914, after rising by 414. The official Indian figures are almost certainly too low. The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi told reporters that he expected the city to have 550,000 cases by the end of July. Delhi has a population of 20 million, while India’s population is 1.353 billion. The infection rate across the nation is not uniform, which is an indication that the COVID-19 case count for the country likely is much higher than reported.

New York Becomes the Recovering State

Improbably, several weeks ago New York State had a sharp drop in the daily increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths while, at the same time, other large states suffered. It remains the hardest hit state, with 389,666 confirmed cases. However, those rose by only 581 since yesterday. Deaths now total 24,782.

The confirmed case counts in many other states are rising more quickly per day. This is true in most large states, as measured by population. However, it is even true in some modest-sized ones.

The latest daily increase in Texas was 5,551 to 125,921. That is over nine times the New York pace. Texas has 2,249 deaths. Cases in California, the second hardest hit state based on confirmed cases, jumped 7,149 to 190,222. California has 5,632 deaths. Confirmed cases in Florida hit 109,014, which is a 5,511 increase. Florida’s death total is 3,281. And, in Arizona, confirmed cases reached 59,974, or 1,795 higher. The death count there is 1,463.

Among smaller states, Alabama had a confirmed case increase higher than New York’s. There, the confirmed cases hit 31,624, after adding 954. Deaths stand at 879. In South Carolina, confirmed cases reached 27,842, up by 1,229, and deaths number 683.

There is no single reason New York’s confirmed case daily increases have slowed so much. Among them is that New York State was hit early in the spread of the disease and locked down its population almost completely.

Germany Starts to Struggle

Germany was an example of how a large nation, based on population, could keep the spread of COVID-19 low. And it has an extraordinarily low death rate. The country was credited with an early lockdown, careful case tracing and a sophisticated medical system.

Germany’s situation has started to change. Confirmed cases, which place it 13th in the world, are at 193,254. They rose 476, another in a string of days during which the increase has been over 400. For several days in late May and early June, the daily increase in confirmed cases was much lower. The country reported that deaths rose by 17 to 9,003. The number was less than 10 several days earlier in the month.

Two areas in Germany have been blamed for most of the case increase. In a single meat processing plant, there was a surge. Germany has locked down this and other areas in the hope of controlling increasing cases elsewhere in the country.