COVID-19 day 163: 📈 2,686,480 cases; 128,062 deaths : 01 July 2020
US exceeds 50K cases for the first time; California sets new daily record, 9,740; six other states set records; US cases increase 80% in two weeks; Trump corners the market on remdesivir
It’s day 163 since the first case of coronavirus disease was announced in the United States. Reported cases in the US have risen by 80% in the past two weeks. Since the post-Memorial Day weekend dip (16,620 reported cases), US cases have increased more than three times.
California set a new daily record for cases, 9,740, which was 50% more case than the prior day, 6,367. Its prior record was set a week ago, 24 June: 7,149 cases.
Other new daily records: Texas, 8,076; Arizona, 4,877; Georgia, 2,946; North Carolina, 1,843; Ohio, 1,076; and Alaska, 38.
Other states with more than 1,000 cases: Florida, 6,563; Louisiana, 2,083; Tennessee, 1,806; and South Carolina, 1,520.
🦠 Wednesday, Johns Hopkins reported 2,686,480 (2,634,432) cases and 128,062 (127,4100) deaths, an increase of 1.98% (1.69%) and 0.51% (1.01%), respectively, since Tuesday (Monday). A week ago, the daily numbers increased by 1.47% and 0.62%, respectively.
The seven-day average: 42,432 ⬆️ (40,266) cases and 854 ⬇️(876) deaths
Percent of cases leading to death: 4.77% ⬇️ (4.84%).
Today’s case rate is 811.55 per 100,000; the death rate, 38.69 per 100,000.
One week ago, the case rate was 719.48 per 100,000; the death rate, 36.85 per 100,000.
Note: numbers in (.) are from the prior day and are provided for context. I include the seven-day average because dailies vary so much in the course of a week, particularly over a weekend.
🤓 Recommended reading
🧵An important thread from Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Obama Administration.
🔬 Research and medical news
▪️Excess deaths is a measurement that assesses “increases in rates of death beyond what would be expected if the pathogen had not circulated.” And a not-year peer-reviewed paper suggests that COVID-19 related deaths in the US for the period March-May 2020 may be 28% under-reported.
Estimation of Excess Deaths Associated With the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States, March to May 2020. JAMA Network, 01 July 2020.
▪️I recommend this only if you want to read a report that details how COVID-19 illuminates known social inequities.
Why Surviving the Virus Might Come Down to Which Hospital Admits You. NY Times, 01 July 2020.
🎦 Recommended viewing
On Monday, in a TED2020 conversation with Chris Anderson, Bill Gates suggested these three companies are on a fast track to create a vaccine (if it works): AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna. Gates does not expect the pandemic to take a break in the fall. Watch.
Sections (no jump links, sorry!)
1, Around the country; 2, Around the world; 3, Politics, economics and COVID-19; 4, Case count; 5, What you can do and resources
⓵ Around the country
❌ First installment of COVIDiots is from Ohio. The owner of an ice cream in Berea, Mootown Creamery, writes in frustration on the shop’s Facebook page:
Stop yelling at these young girls. Stop slamming doors. Stop swearing at them and making a scene. STOP!!! These girls are wearing masks for YOUR protection. They are required by the state to wear them, and they do so with a smile because they care about you and your safety.
🆘 California has closed indoor operations for bars, restaurants, wineries, movie theaters and zoos in 19 counties, representing about 70% of the state population; Gov Gavin Newsome (D)
New face covering orders
🔔Pennsylvania, indoors and outdoors; Gov Tom Wolf (D)
🏔 Oregon, indoor public spaces; Gov Kate Brown (D)
Localities
FL, Palm Beach County, indoors and outdoors; Gov Ron DeSantis (R)
ID, Moscow, masks and six-foot physical distancing; Gov Brad Little (R)
MO, Kansas City, indoors; Gov Mike Parson (R)
St. Louis and St. Louis County, indoors and outdoorsOH, Dayton, public spaces when six-feet is not reasonable; Gov Mike DeWine (R)
OK, Oklahoma City, restaurant and bar employees; Gov Kevin Stitt (R)
TX, Ft. Worth, indoors; Gov Greg Abbott (R)
⓶ Around the world
This week, global cases have exceeded 160,000 cases a day. And 60% of all global cases have been reported in the past month.
⓷ Politics, economics and COVID-19
Lede from The Guardian on Wednesday:
The US has bought up virtually all the [remdesivir] stocks for the next three months.
In case it’s not obvious, that is not positive framing.
Experts and campaigners are alarmed both by the US unilateral action on remdesivir and the wider implications, for instance in the event of a vaccine becoming available. The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US…
The drug, which was trialled in the Ebola epidemic but failed to work as expected, is under patent to Gilead, which means no other company in wealthy countries can make it…
Buying up the world’s supply of remdesivir is not just a reaction to the increasing spread and death toll. The US has taken an “America first” attitude throughout the global pandemic…
“Imagine this was a vaccine… That would be a firestorm. But perhaps this is a taste of things to come.”
In May, the FDA approved remdesivir under an emergency use authorization based on limited research into its efficacy in treating patients with COVID-19. In June, the FDA warned hospitals about a possible interaction with chloroquine phosphate or hydroxychloroquine sulfate.
In the US, the five-day treatment will cost “$3,120 for a typical U.S. patient with commercial insurance.” Uninsured patients are supposed to be covered by the CARES act, but it’s not been covering all COVID-19 tests.
⓸ Case count
There is a lag between being contagious and showing symptoms, between having a test and getting its results. There is also a lag in reports of cases and deaths making their way into daily results; this lag is visible in predictable declines for both reports containing weekend data.
🌎 01 July
Globally: 10 357 662 cases (163 939 new) 508 055 deaths (4 188 new)
The Americas: 5 218 590 cases (81 885 new) 249 318 deaths (2 189 new)
US: 2 573 393 cases (35 757 new) with 126 573 deaths (370 new)
Johns Hopkins interactive dashboard (11.00 pm Pacific)
Global confirmed: 10,694,288 (10,450,628)
Total deaths: 516,210 (510,632)
Recovered: 5,480,394 (5,336,996)
🇺🇸 01 July
CDC: 2,624,873 (43,644) cases and 127,299 (560) deaths
Johns Hopkins*: 2,686,480 (2,634,432) cases and 128,062 (127,4100) deaths
State data*: 2,675,215 (2,541,711) identified cases and 121,028 (119,435) deaths
Why WI data do not match state website; KS reports only M-W-FTotal tests (US, Johns Hopkins): 32,827,359 (32,206,245)
Take with a grain of salt. Tests not necessarily people. The CDC and at least 11 other states have combined the data for active infections with data for antibodies, boosting total number of tests which can drop the percentage who test positive.
📣 View weekly state infographics
* Johns Hopkins data, ~11.00 pm Pacific.
State data include DC, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands
The virus was not created in a lab and the weight of evidence is it was not released intentionally. Although early reports tied the outbreak to a market in Wuhan, China, analyses of genomic data in January suggested that the virus might have developed elsewhere.
⓹ What you can do
Stay home as much as possible, period.
Wear a mask when near non-family members.
Digestive problems may be a symptom.
Resources
👓 See COVID-19 resource collection at WiredPen.
📝 Subscribe to Kathy’s COVID-19 Memo :: COVID-19 Memo archives
🦠 COVID-19 @ WiredPen.com
📊 Visualizations: US, World
🌐 Global news (at WiredPen)