Deaths from COVID-19 have now surpassed a worldwide total of 1 million. As you should expect by now, the U.S.—whose response to the pandemic at the federal level should remain an ongoing source of grave concern for citizens—is at the top of the list when breaking down the total number of deaths by country.
The latest numbers come via the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and show that the U.S. currently has more than 205,000 confirmed deaths. Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed cases in the U.S. is at 7.2 million, with the global total number of cases at more than 33 million.
The Economist also points out that at this rate, 500,000 people are likely to die within the next two and a half months.
The virus shows no sign of abating. The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 around the world has been rising by over 200,000 a day since July 10. On Sept. 24 a record 360,000 new cases were recorded. Since April 4, at least 5,000 people have lost their lives to the disease every day. It took 140 days to go from 1,000 to 500,000 deaths; but just 91 days to reach 1m. At current rates, another 500,000 people are likely to die within the next 75 days.
An extended breakdown of the latest numbers from NPR's Nurith Aizenman provides a more immersive look at how the pandemic has grown, no doubt worsened by efforts from many aimed at rushing to effectively "re-open" crowded areas. And in the States, particularly among Republicans, there remains a reckless dedication to treating simple tasks like the wearing of masks as some sort of infringement. It's not.
Though some states have managed to pull off downward trends as of late, many others—including Alabama, South Carolina, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Indiana, and more—are moving in the opposite direction.
Speaking with Timefor a piece published Monday on how the U.S. could be facing another wave of the virus as we move into colder months, Dr. Tom Inglesby—director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health—warned that Americans are very far from being out of the woods as some Republican leaders would have us believe.
"The virus hasn't changed and has the capacity to spread rapidly if given a chance," he said.
In short, stop fucking with people who continue to treat this all like some sort of elaborate hoax. It's real and it isn't going away anytime soon.
