Health and Healthcare

Bing COVID-19 Tracker 5/26/2020 (6:27 AM) US Deaths Hit 99,462, Cases Near 1.7 Million

24/7 Wall St. Staff

Published: May 26, 2020 6:27 am

According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, the number of global cases has reached 5,495,061 and is likely to reach 5.5 million within a day. Active cases rose by 20,928 to 2,916,236, and they are 54% of the total of confirmed cases worldwide. Recovered cases totaled 2,232,593, which is up by 62,635. The recovered case growth rate topped the active case growth rate by a wide margin, a good sign.

Global fatal cases have hit 346,232, up 1,110, which is a slight drop in the increase from the day before. They are now 6.4% of the world’s confirmed case total. At the current rate, global deaths will reach 350,000 in three days.

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States have reached 1,697,361, which is 31% of the world’s total. They will reach 1.7 million within a day. The number of active cases in America reached 1,244,915, higher by 12,040, and recovered cases hit 352,984, up by 7,502 from yesterday. A bad sign is that the active case increase ran well ahead of the recovered case improvement.

Fatal cases in America reached 99,462, a gain of 1,427 in a day. They are 28% of the world’s total fatalities and 6% of U.S. confirmed cases. At the current rate of growth, U.S. deaths could reach 100,000 within a day. Some experts say that, because of the uncounted cases, the figure actually is already above that level.

Texas Case Count Low, but Deaths Rise

Texas is the second-largest state in the United States by population, at 28,995,881, or 8.7% of the national total. With a confirmed COVID-19 case count in the state of 55,971, it ranks eighth by that measure. However, its count of fatal cases has started to grow more rapidly than in the recent past. Deaths reached 1,527, a one-day gain of 21. This is after several days of lower figures.

Active cases are rising rapidly in the state’s largest county, which is Harris County, home to Houston. Confirmed cases there numbered 10,921, and active cases rose 388 to 6,349. COVID-19 deaths in the county rose by 10 to 220.

Fatal Cases in Low Population States Remain Very Low

The numbers of fatal cases in some of the largest states measured by square miles remain very low. The death count in Alaska is 10, against 409 confirmed cases. In Montana, there are 16 deaths and 479 confirmed cases. Wyoming’s death count is 12, among 838 confirmed cases.

Almost certainly, these death and case counts are low because of population density. If so, their figures may rise very little, even if there is a second wave of the illness in the United States.

United Kingdom Continues to Struggle

The United Kingdom has a COVID-19 confirmed case count of 261,184. Active cases are up 1,625 in the past day to 224,270, while deaths numbered 36,914, up by 121.

The United Kingdom ranks fifth among all nations in confirmed cases, behind the United States, Brazil, Spain and Russia. With the exception of Spain, it is much smaller than the others by population. However, its death count is well ahead of Brazil’s 23,552 and Russia’s 3,807.

Why is the U.K. death count so high compared to Brazil and Russia? One theory is that its advanced government infrastructure and robust health care system make it more likely to count the figures accurately. Brazil, on the other hand, has a challenge as it tracks the illness, particularly in the vast areas outside its largest cities.