Ten nations worldwide have over 1.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. One U.S. state, Texas, has 1,247,065. Cases added each day in Texas continue to accelerate, and the total could certainly reach 1.5 million in December.

The fact that the Texas figure is so high compared with most nations around the world, many of which have much larger populations, says a great deal about the United States in general. With 13,506,766 confirmed cases, America’s figure currently grows by as much as 200,000 a day. The number probably will reach 15 million by the middle of December. Coronavirus deaths in America are also well ahead of any other country at 270,520, a figure that recently has risen by as much as 2,000 a day. Experts worry that could double to 4,000 by early 2021.

The U.S. confirmed case count figure is followed by India at 9,432,547 million. India is the second-largest nation in the world by population, at 1.3 billion, trailing very slightly behind leader China. Many medical experts in India believe that its count is under the actual total by many millions because the government cannot adequately keep track of numbers in its huge cities and its vast rural areas.

Brazil is in third place at 6,314,740. Two other nations in Latin America have case counts above 1.2 million. These are Argentina at 1,418,807 and Colombia at 1,308,376.

Russia is in fourth place with confirmed cases of 2,295,654.

France leads a cluster of European countries with high confirmed case counts. It has 2,218,483. Spain follows with 1,628,208 and the United Kingdom with 1,617,327. Italy has 1,585,178.

The Texas number is all the more extraordinary because, based on population, it is much smaller than nations that have confirmed case counts close to it. Texas has a population of 28,995,881. Colombia’s is 50,339,443 and Argentina’s is 44,780,677. Italy’s population is 60,627,291.

The Texas figure is a reminder of how badly America has been ravaged by the disease. Another huge wave in the spread of COVID-19 is expected due to Thanksgiving travel, and there may be yet another after millions of people travel for Christmas. Moreover, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has refused to put aggressive measures in place to slow the spread, unlike many other states that have locked down businesses and set curfews.

Could Texas, at the current rate of spread, move ahead of Colombia and Argentina? Under current circumstances, the answer most likely is yes.

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