According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, global COVID-19 cases have reached 3,507,265. Active cases hit 2,131,887, which is higher by 44,145. Recovered cases rose to 1,127,887, an increase of 34,698, and deaths reached 247,491, up by 3,660.
Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States number 1,184,248, or 34% of the world’s total. Active cases reached 962,716, which is higher by 23,968. Recovered cases were 151,502, or 9,796 higher. Fatal cases in American hit 68,286, which is 28% of the world’s total and a gain of 1,219.
In a sign that the disease is still spreading, active cases are still ahead of recovered cases, both globally and in the United States.
The Special Case of Wayne County
Wayne County, which includes Detroit, is among the hardest-hit large counties, as measured by population and COVID-19 deaths, in the United States. It has 17,106 confirmed cases and 1,884 deaths. The county’s population is 1,749,343. Of those, 672,662 live in the city of Detroit. The city is often noted for its extreme poverty and sharply dropping population. The city has lost about half that population since 1960.
Total Michigan confirmed cases numbered 43,754, and deaths are at 4,049. The state’s population is 9,986,857. Wayne County has 18% of the state’s population, 39% of its confirmed cases and 46% of its deaths.
In contrast to Wayne County, Los Angeles County is the largest in the United States, with a population of 10,105,518. The city of Los Angeles proper makes up 3,990,456 of that. Los Angeles County has 25,662 confirmed cases and 2,192 deaths. Consequently, deaths in that county are only 13% higher than in Wayne County.
Cook County includes the city of Chicago. The county has a population of 5,180,493, which makes it the second largest in America. The city has a population of 2,705,994. Cook County has 38,668 confirmed cases and 1,673 deaths. That is 211 fewer fatalities than Wayne County.
Harris County, which includes Houston, is the third-largest county in America. Its population is 4,092,459, while the city of Houston has a population of 2,325,502. Harris County has 6,708 confirmed cases and 129 deaths. Wayne County has posted almost 15 times that many fatal cases.
The reasons for the terrible levels of infection and death in Wayne County are usually given as a high poverty rate, a higher percentage of the population that are black Americans and high levels of preexisting conditions, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Detroit’s population is 79% black and Wayne County’s is 39% black. Thirty-six percent of Detroit’s population lives below the poverty line, according to the Census, compared to 13% for all of America.
South Korean Cases Remain Remarkably Low
South Korea has remarkably few COVID-19 cases for a country its size. The nation’s population is 51,171,706. Confirmed cases total 10,801, with 9,217 of these listed as recovered cases. There are only 1,332 active cases, and South Korea has posted just 252 total deaths.
By contrast, Italy has a population of 60,627,291. The country has had weeks of high death rates, particularly in northern areas. Of Italy’s 210,717 confirmed cases, only 81,654 are recovered cases. It has had 28,884 fatal cases.
Among the reasons most often given for the low case and death count in South Korea are regulations and programs put in place after the SARS and MERS epidemics. Areas of cities were closed rapidly after a small group of people were diagnosed, and, in some cases, down to the level of shuttering individual buildings. Testing began shortly after the first case was identified and thereafter was done aggressively. Contact tracing was conducted immediately and aggressively. One byproduct of these actions is that most cases, 6,856, were confined to Daegu, which is well south of Seoul.
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