Health and Healthcare

Bing COVID-19 Tracker Report 5/6/2020 (6:34 AM)

24/7 Wall St. Staff

Published: May 6, 2020 6:34 am

According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, the number of global COVID-19 cases has reached 3,663,911. Active cases hit 2,207,221, which is a gain of 48,339 since yesterday. Recovered cases rose to 1,199,389, up by 31,398, and deaths numbered 257,301, after adding 5,721.

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States hit 1,234,351, which is 34% of the world’s total. Active cases totaled 998,013, a surge of 21,298, and recovered cases were 4,379 higher to 164,315. Fatal cases in America hit 72,023, 28% of the world’s figure, after rising 2,343 in a day.

One bad sign is that active cases lead recovered cases in American by six to one. Globally the figure is more favorable at less than two to one. In Canada, the ratio is substantially better. It has 31,010 active cases and 26,993 recovered cases. Add to this that some forecasts suggest that active cases in the United States soon will start to rise more rapidly again.

At the current pace of deaths in the United States, based on deaths per day now, the number will be 130,000 by the end of May. The number of deaths already is ahead of some models that forecast between 60,000 and 66,000 fatal cases before the end of the first week of August. It now appears that death totals will be closer to a model-based figure released by the White House on April 1. It forecast between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths before the end of the same period.

Cases in District of Columbia Top 5,000

The District of Columbia, typically known as Washington, D.C., has a population of 706,000. Its current confirmed case figure is 5,322, and 264 people have died.

At least two states with much larger populations have case and death totals that are near or below those of D.C. These include New Mexico, which has a population of 2,913,314 but only 4,138 cases and 162 deaths. Utah has a population of 3,205,958. Its confirmed cases number 5,449, with 56 deaths.

The most likely explanation for the relatively high level of cases in D.C. compared with those two states is population density. Washington is more crowded, based on people per square mile, than in any state. That figure is 11,011 persons per square mile. The number in Utah is 36, and in New Mexico the figure is only 16. These states have natural social distancing. D.C. is at the other end spectrum.

France’s Coronavirus Deaths Pass 25,000

France’s case and death situation had lagged highly troubled Spain and Italy for some time, but it has reached deepening trouble. France has 132,967 confirmed cases and has posted 25,531 deaths, up 330 since yesterday. By contrast, Spain has 247,122 confirmed cases and 25,613 fatal cases, up by 185. Italy has 213,013 confirmed cases and 29,315 deaths, which is 236 higher.

While Spain and Italy still have many more confirmed cases, France has caught up to them in total deaths. And France’s death figure is rising more quickly, at least for the time being.

The difference between France on the one hand and Italy and Spain on the other is evidence that the first case in France was on December 27. Presumably, COVID-19 has had longer to spread in France than in the other two countries.

At least two reasons could account for the disparity. The first is that the infections in Spain and Italy began as early as December as well. Some scientists believe that COVID-19 began to appear in many countries weeks before official case counts started.

The other reason is that France started social distancing and case tracking before Italy and Spain. There is no firm evidence that is true.