COVID-19 day 166: 📈 2,839,436 cases; 129,676 deaths : 04 July 2020
The combined wealth of the 614 wealthiest Americans increased ~20% while unemployment soared; WHO reports new global daily record; AK, FL, SC and TX also set daily records
It’s day 166 since the first case of coronavirus disease was announced in the United States. This 4th of July holiday weekend, our data will be off; for example, seven states failed to report today and will not report again until Monday or Tuesday (Rhode Island).
However, Florida set yet another state record on Saturday: 11,458 new cases according to the Florida Department of Health website (alternative Florida dashboard). Texas set a record for new cases, with 8,258, as did South Carolina, with 1,854. Alaska also set a new record, with 48 new cases.
Five other states had more than 1,000 cases:
6,510, California
2,826, Georgia
2,695, Arizona
1,428, Tennessee
1,413, North Carolina
Moreover, the World Health Organization reported a record number of new cases globally: 212,326. More than half - 129,772 (61%) - were from North and South America (which means, in the main, the US and Brazil).
The BCC reports cases by continent (02 July):
🦠 Saturday, Johns Hopkins reported 2,839,436 (45,283 new) cases and 129,676 (242 new) deaths, an increase of 1.62% (1.98%) and 0.19% (0.54%), respectively, since Friday (Thursday). A week ago, the daily numbers increased by 1.73% and 0.40%, respectively.
The seven-day average: 46,485 ⬆️ (46,480) cases and 580 ⬇️(628) deaths
Percent of cases leading to death: 4.57% ⬇️(4.63%).
Today’s case rate is 857.83 per 100,000; the death rate, 39.18 per 100,000.
One week ago, the case rate was 758.35 per 100,000; the death rate, 37.93 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
We are, again, the only first world country lacking paid family leave. Day-care costs more than tuition at a public college in a majority of states, and quality can be spotty. School teachers — predominantly women— are underpaid compared with other similarly credentialed professionals. Huge numbers of people say the reason they have fewer children than they want because of cost. And all of this was true before the current crisis.
As always in the United States, there is one group that is doing better than ever in the covid-19 era. As data from the Institute of Policy Studies released last month revealed, billionaires are continuing to prosper. As the unemployment rate soared, the combined wealth of the 614 wealthiest individuals went up by $584 billion, or almost 20 percent. Even as the federal deficit soared and state governments — which by law have to balance their budgets — struggled, they continued to receive tax breaks (emphasis added).
This Fourth of July, covid-19 is forcing us to confront America’s many weaknesses. Washington Post, 03 July 2020.
“You don’t want to balance lives against the economy,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said [while speaking with the JAMA Network]. “So let’s get public health to help us to get the economy open as opposed to two opposing forces.”
Don’t ‘balance lives against the economy’ in unprecedented pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci warns. CNBC, 02 July 2020.
🔬 Research and medical news
Because many contagious people have no symptoms, using temperature checks to catch them is like trying to catch tennis balls in a soccer net: way too many can get through.
Fever checks are a flawed way to flag Covid-19 cases. Experts say smell tests might help. STAT News, 02 July 2020.
🎦 Recommended viewing
Watch John Lewis: Good Trouble as part of your 4th of July celebration
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
▪️ There is possibly no state more linked with an ethos of minimal government intervention than Alaska. However, as the state experiences a spike in new cases (46 reported Friday, 48 reported Saturday), the City of Seward “has approved a face covering rule and other temporary restrictions.”
🆘 COVID-19 has finally hit the nation’s geographic bulls eye, Joplin, MO. And it’s not going well.
“Eighty percent of people here are watching one channel and it’s downplaying the epidemic,” Teeter said, referring to Fox News. “So there’s a lot of confusion.”
☆ The Texas Medical Association has created a guide to relative risk. No action is is “safe”, that is completely without risk. There are risks to getting out of bed each morning, just as there are risks to remaining in bed.
⓶ Around the world
We're not welcome in England, either:
Starting July 10, England will drop its mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors from more than 50 countries but leave the restrictions in place for travelers coming from the United States, deepening the isolation of America.
Across the Pacific: Singapore was the first country to use a national coronavirus-tracing smartphone app; it has been supplemented with wearable devices.
If dongle users test positive for the disease, they have to hand their device to the Ministry of Health because - unlike the app - they cannot transmit data over the internet. Human contact-tracers will then use the logs to identify and advise others who might have been infected.
⓷ Politics, economics and COVID-19
It’s past time for the FAA to step in and reduce the risk of flying in the age of COVID-19. This is virus is not going to disappear nor will it recede in any foreseeable future.
The Washington Post editorial board:
The prohibition on smoking aboard commercial aircraft has been enforced for decades by the Federal Aviation Administration. But the FAA somehow thinks covid-19, which can sicken and kill much more quickly and efficiently than tobacco smoke, is not its problem, and should be under the exclusive purview of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC, for its part, has been clear — face masks and distancing are strongly advised when people are indoors. Still, the FAA refuses to consider drafting regulations to address the coronavirus threat.
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.
🌎 04 July
Globally: 10 922 324 cases (212 326 new) with 523 011 deaths (5 134 new)
The Americas: 5 575 482 cases (129 772 new) with 259 094 deaths (3 392 new)
US: 2 724 433 cases (53 213 new) with 128 481 deaths (623 new)
Johns Hopkins interactive dashboard (11.00 pm Pacific)
Global confirmed: 11,279,465 (204,587 new)
Total deaths: 530,898 (5,777 new)
Recovered: 6,069,717 (205,870 new)
🇺🇸 04 July
CDC: 2,789,678 (57,718 new) cases and 129,305 (661 new) deaths
Johns Hopkins*: 2,839,436 (45,283 new) cases and 129,676 (242 new) deaths
State data*: 2,839,128 (51,463 new) identified cases and 122,466 (287 new) deaths
KS reports only M-W-F; RI reports only M-F; additionally, no updates from CT, KY, LA, MNTotal tests (US, Johns Hopkins): 34,858,427 (644,930 new)
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)