According to the Microsoft Bing COVID-19 Tracker, global confirmed cases of the disease reached 37,801,975 today, up 257,855 from the day before. Active cases number 10,445,263, recovered cases number 26,276,030 and fatal cases have reached 1,080,682, a one-day gain of 3,600. At the current rate, global deaths will reach 1.1 million within a week.
Leading experts do not expect the COVID-19 spread situation to improve. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commented: “We have been saying for a long time now, including at the early stages of the pandemic that this virus is very dangerous, and we called it many times public enemy number one.” He has been the world’s leading voice about both the spread of the disease and the chances that its quickening spread can be reversed.
The number of cases continues to rise quickly in the northern hemisphere, where winter is quickly approaching. With most viruses, the rate of spread rises as people move indoors. This has been true of the flu for decades. Dr. Anthony Fauci recently commented about the spread and the onset of cold weather: “We’ve got to get that down or otherwise, we’re going to have a very tough winter in the next few months.” At the same time, the southern hemisphere has not posted much improvement. Among the hardest-hit nations in the world are Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile.
Will India’s Cases Jump Ahead of the United States?
The United States has had the largest number of cases in the world since the disease began its rapid spread. However, India’s total confirmed cases have brought that number close to America’s. At the current rate, it could overtake the United States within a few weeks.
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Currently ranked second in the world based on confirmed COVID-19 cases, India has 7,177,783. That number grows by nearly 80,000 cases a day, which could pull it ahead of the United States before the end of this month. The death count in India stands at 109,917. Health care experts say that because of the size of the nation geographically, and its relatively primitive health care systems, more than 60 million people actually have been infected, about eight times the official number. The Indian Council of Medical Research puts the figure as high as 63 million.
The United States remains the country with the most confirmed cases, at 7,903,918. COVID-19 fatalities there stand at 218,486. The rate of the spread has increased in the past two weeks. Confirmed cases were up by 43,333 yesterday. While this is high, it is about half the India growth rate for confirmed cases. Fauci has said the spread will not be arrested until the average daily increase drops to under 10,000 per day, which is a very long way away.
U.S. confirmed cases are concentrated in the largest states. California has 858,648 and Texas has 831,642. In Florida, there are 736,024 cases, and New York has 480,045. This list is the same as the states when ranked by population. Yet, some of the states where COVID-19 is growing fastest have small populations, most notably North and South Dakota. New York continues to have the largest number of coronavirus deaths by far at 32,896, about 15% of the national total.
Two Other Nations Have Confirmed Case Counts Above a Million
Brazil has a confirmed case count of 5,103,408. New cases recently have risen at a rate of 20,000 to 30,000 a day. Its COVID-19 deaths number 150,709. As with India, Brazil’s figures are too low. It is nearly impossible to count cases in the nation’s interior. In the poorest parts of the largest cities, packed with impoverished people, the disease is also difficult to track.
Russia has 1,326,178 cases, and fatal cases there stand at 22,966. Most experts say the death count is far too low to be real. It may be that the government has kept counts down to make it appear it has the pandemic under control. Yesterday, Russia posted its biggest one-day increase: 12,846.
COVID-19 Counts in America’s Northeastern States Stay Low
The three most northeastern American states continue to have among the lowest confirmed cases counts in the country. The smallest figure of all is Vermont’s, at 1,876, well below any other state. Maine ranks second by that measure, at 5,752 confirmed cases. New Hampshire’s 9,208 is the fourth-lowest count.
One reason these counts are low is the fact that each state has a modest population. However, so do some Mountain States, like North and South Dakota, where COVID-19 has started to spread very rapidly.
Most experts believe that Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have done excellent jobs with social distancing, mask-wearing, contact tracing and keeping people from adjacent states from easily crossing their borders.
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