While the 25,922 new COVID-19 cases reported in the U.S. in the past 24 hours remained inline with prior days, the death count of 2,315 was the highest to date.
The case count now stands at 606,800 with deaths at 25,922, representing a growth rate for the past 24 hours of 4 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Note that the reported deaths do not include 3,700 deaths New York says should be attributed to COVID-19 but were never tested. In all fairness to New York, there are likely similar un-reported or under-reported deaths across the country and definitely around the world.
With U.S. deaths setting a new record, it raises some doubt about whether we have really reached the peak or not. However, deaths are a lagging indicator, often occurring days or weeks after a patient tests positive. Maybe the peak is more a plateau, but as long as the rate of growth continues to decline, we’re making progress.
States See Improved Performance
While all the state we track have been able to successfully curtail their growth rates, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas continue to see significant growth in their caseloads. The chart below, made with data reported by the New York Times, shows cases today versus a week ago.
It should be noted that all the sates listed above saw a substantial slowdown in reported cases. A week ago, only three states were below 100 percent growth.
Global News Mixed
Globally, deaths are in excess of 128,000 with 2 million reported cases. That’s an increase of 45,000 deaths and 553,000 cases in the past week.
While the spread seems to have peaked in Italy and Spain, the UK experienced one of its worst days, reaching 94,852 cases and 12,107 deaths. Some countries are still on the steeper part of the curve, nowhere near the peak. Many expect Moscow to be the epicenter for Russia, which has seen cases climb to over 21,000.
Sweden, which has avoided harsh shutdown and stay home programs, has seen its death toll surpass 1,000. While this does not seem high compared to much of Europe, Bloomberg reports that “The Swedish mortality rate is almost 10 times higher than in Finland, more than four times higher than in Norway, and twice Denmark’s.”
To see the pace of coronavirus, you can read our report from yesterday or a week ago.
