The U.S. passed the 5 million mark yesterday, with a record 5,006,600 cases, according to the New York Times. John Hopkins has the country at 4,998,853, but close enough.
Also according to the times, there were 55,196 new cases reported yesterday and 965 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 161,965. An analysis of CDC data says that there have been 207,000 “excess deaths” between March 15 and July 25, meaning 207,000 more deaths than expected based on statistical averages. If we do the math, that results in about 50,000 deaths not accounted for by COVID-19.
So where did these “extra” deaths come from? How about people who died from other diseases because they could not or would not go to the emergency room or get traditional medical care, suicides caused by the quarantine, increased murders, etc.
Rate of COVID-19 Growth Drops
Despite the recent surge of headlines, it appears the disease is actually slowing its growth as the New York Times reports only 6 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands where the disease is increasing. They report 23 states where the rate is steady and 22 where it is actually declining. This is a tremendous reversal from three or four weeks ago when only two states showed declining numbers. They are reporting 21 states in which the death rate is increasing.
Global Growth Continues
Brazil passed the 3 million mark yesterday, representing more than 15 percent of the global total of 19.67 million cases. We’ll be providing more global data tomorrow.
