Worldwide, we are now fast approaching ten million cases of people officially confirmed to have had the coronavirus. To date around the globe, there have been over 5, 300,000 recovered, while there have been just shy of half a million dead.
Here in the United States, we are now bracing for what people kept warning would be a second wave. But this second wave has hit especially hard in numerous red states, where many people did not take the coronavirus pandemic seriously. We all have heard reports of overly crowded beaches in places like California and Florida over the past couple of months or so, and crowded malls and bars and other public places and gatherings in some other states, including Texas and Arizona. Many people are complaining, and some act shocked, even though, again, this was pretty much predicted for a very long time.
Frankly, if this is the second wave, I personally would have thought that we would more completely have gotten past the first wave. But unlike many other countries, where this was taken more seriously, we never really got our numbers down as much. Granted, our attention was diverted because of the collapse of the economy, the anti-brutality protests and race riots in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, and the ever-present news pollution of the Trump administration and the 2020 presidential race.
The United States still has far and away more cases of Covid-19 than any other nation, although Brazil has seen a huge spike in both confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus in the past month or so in particular. But later on Brazil. Let’s cover the United States first. To date, there have been over two and a half million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the United States, which is still slightly more than a quarter of all official cases in the world. We also have the most deaths from Covid-19 of any other nation, with over 127,000 total deaths to date reported, while well over one million Americans have recovered from the coronavirus.
Now, back to Brazil. The numbers have increased dramatically in Brazil, where they have a president who, like we have here in the United States, is arrogant and anti-science. Like with Trump, he seems to show a callous disinterest in the crisis, outright suggesting that he did not care about growing numbers, and implying that it was not really his job to take care of it. Reminds you a bit of Trump claiming to take no responsibility shortly after claiming that he, as president, had total authority, right?
Given all of that, perhaps it really should come as no surprise that these two countries have more confirmed cases than the rest of the world.
Brazil recently became only the second nation in the world with over one million confirmed cases. Officially, it has over 1, 280,000 cases, and has seen over 56,000 deaths from the coronavirus, both numbers being far and away the second highest in the world, even if it remains lower than the United States, for now. However, there are concerns that the number is actually much, much higher in Brazil. There are not enough tests, and there are many neighborhoods where social distancing just is not that plausible. So, when you add the anti-science mania of President Bolsonaro and his followers, the results here are really not all that surprising, and you have to wonder just how much worse things will get there. It seems like the problem will grow worse before it can get better.
The epicenter of the crisis is in the nation’s largest city, São Paulo, a city with a total population of well over 12 million. To date, there have been over 259,000 confirmed cases in that city, and just shy of 14,000 deaths. Rio de Janeiro is next biggest city, with a population of well over six million. To date, Rio has seen over 108,000 cases, and over 9,500 deaths. Manaus, the third largest city, often viewed as the gateway to Brazil’s Amazon region, with a population of well over two million. Manaus has seen over 68,000 confirmed cases, but has seen over 2, 700 deaths, which is far lower, even by scale, to the previous two cities, which are enormous and in some areas, vastly overcrowded.
India is another giant country that has seen the coronavirus crisis grow massively in the past couple of months, in particular. India is only the fourth country in the world to have reached the half a million official cases plateau. They have seen well over 15,000 deaths, which is only the eighth highest of all nations, although that number seems to be rising.
Not too long ago, Europe was regarded as the epicenter of the Covid-19 crisis, although that has abated a bit lately with countries in the Americas and Asia seeing spikes. Russia saw a huge spike in cases in recent months, and ranks third in the world in terms of total confirmed cases, with over 627,000. But the death rate in Russia remains comparatively low, with just shy of nine thousand to date, while over 393,000 in Russia have made a recovery. The United Kingdom is next for Europe, with over 309,000 confirmed cases, and over 43,000 official deaths from the coronavirus, the third highest of any nation in the world. Italy has seen the fourth most deaths with over 34,000, and over 239,000 official cases. France has seen over 162,000 confirmed cases, but has had over 29,000 people die from it, the fifth most of any nation. Spain has had over 294,000 official confirmed cases, and over 28,000 deaths. Germany has had over 194,000 cases, with just over 9,000 official deaths to date. Belgium and Sweden each have well over 60,000 cases, with Belgium having seen over 9,700 deaths, while Sweden has seen over 5,200 deaths. And the Netherlands has had over 50,000 confirmed cases, and over six thousand deaths.
I mentioned that other nations in the Americas have seen huge spikes, other than the United States and Brazil. Peru, a nation with just shy of 33 million people, ranks seventh in the world in the number of confirmed cases, with over 272,000 confirmed cases, although the death toll there remains relatively low, at just under nine thousand – at least officially. Chile, a nation of just over 19 million people, has also had it bad, with over 263,000 confirmed cases, and over 5,000 deaths. And Mexico, a huge nation with over 128 million people, has seen over 208,000 cases, with a total of over 25,700 deaths from Covid-19.
Finally, some other major nations with serious Covid-19 numbers include Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Iran has had over 217,000 official cases and over 10,000 confirmed deaths. Pakistan has had almost 199,000 confirmed cases, although the death toll remains comparatively low, at just over four thousand. Turkey has had over 194,000 confirmed cases, and over 5,000 deaths. And Saudi Arabia has had over 174,000 cases, with over 1,400 deaths.
South Africa has the most cases of any African nation, with over 124,000 confirmed cases there, and over 2,300 deaths. Egypt is next among African nations, with over 62,000 cases, and over 2,600 deaths.
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