At the same time the official count of coronavirus cases for the world surpassed 14 million, Iran blew that number away, saying that it is likely some 25 million Iranians have been infected. That’s about a third of its citizens. Experts have long suspected that official Iranian numbers (currently reported to be 273,788) represented a significant under count, but no one suspected they would be off by that large a factor. The official total of about 14,000 deaths is also expected to be far below actual deaths.
It is interesting to note that the U.S. Head of the Centers for Disease Control has previously said true infection rates might be 10 times higher than reported due to asymptomatic cases and that 5 to 8 percent of the population has been infected. In contrast, Iran is saying they think their try number is 100 times higher than their testing data shows.
I have to ask: Who thought Iran would come clean about the true COVID-19 rate of infection?
Now if only China would report the true extent of their cases. Maybe they also reported only 1 percent of their illnesses? That would certainly explain the intensity of their lockdowns and why their crematoriums were running 24-7 for so long.
Schools and Shutdowns
There’s a huge debate going around the country about whether or not to close schools. According to data at the end of this article, there are 9 million school-age kids in California, and not a single one has died from COVID-19. 27,400 have tested positive, but all the cases have had only mild or no symptoms. So who exactly are we protecting, the kids or their teachers and parents?
The same article has an interesting comparison to the Spanish Flu, stating that it killed 17 times as many people (as a percentage of the population) than COVID-19 has.
By the Numbers
The U.S. reported 62,400 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 3,722,700. Deaths due to the coronavirus climbed 775 to 139,961
Globally, there were 228,000 new cases reported and deaths climbed above 600,000 for the first time. Johns Hopkins is currently reporting 602,865 deaths, an increase of 5,504 since yesterday.
India reported 38,902 cases yesterday, a record daily increase. That’s more than Brazil reported, but numbers from Brazil, much like Iran, are believed to be significantly under reported.
