While still stupefied at how rapidly society has locked down and markets have crashed, I've been consistent in advocating government to take every precaution. Thus, having people just stay home makes a lot of sense because this COVID-19 pandemic involves a virus that acts surreptitiously with high contagion.
In hindsight now, I should have worn a mask everywhere on my trip to Thailand. Perhaps a motorcycle helmet. Maybe healthcare providers should look into this. The problem with this coronavirus is that many victims don't know they've been infected because they might either never show actual symptoms or suffer from them several days into the ailment.
China early on showed that quarantining "everyone" works. We don't have enough test kits to immediately check everyone, so the only solution is social distancing. Thus, what California and New York did--don't leave your home except for absolutely essential tasks, like buying food or getting medication--is just about the only solution to rid us of this pandemic. Social distancing will become the term of the year.
On that note, let's see what Worldometer reported today:
March 20, 2020
| Country | Total Cases | New Cases | Total Deaths | New Deaths | Tot Cases/ 1M pop | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 80,967 | +39 | 3,248 | +3 | 56 | |||
| Italy | 47,021 | +5,986 | 4,032 | +627 | 778 | |||
| Spain | 20,412 | +2,335 | 1,044 | +213 | 437 | |||
| Germany | 19,711 | +4,391 | 59 | +15 | 235 | |||
| Iran | 19,644 | +1,237 | 1,433 | +149 | 234 | |||
| USA | 16,609 | +2,820 | 225 | +18 | 50 |
About the key statistic: new deaths over the past 24 hours:
March 18 March 19 March 20
China 11 8 3
Italy 475 427 627
Iran 147 149 149
Spain 105 165 213
Germany 2 15 15
USA 41 21 18
Summary:
- China is beginning to approach zero new deaths.
- Italy is still increasing, and so is Spain.
- Iran seems to be stabilizing.
- Germany, too early to tell, but is now doing well for the European Union. Switzerland added 1147 new cases of 5369 and 13 new deaths yesterday of 56 total deaths. UK , 3983 cases with 714 added yesterday, 33 new deaths of 177 total. The Netherlands, 2994 cases with 534 added yesterday, 30 new deaths of 177 total.
- Scandinavia? Worst country is Sweden with 5 new deaths
- USA? Three straight days of 24-hour death decline, with total new cases of 2960 on March 18, 2095 on March 19 and 2820 on March 20.
- More than anything, the new cases result from more test kits being made available.
- Our total cases per million population is 50, compared to China at 56 and Italy at 778.
- San Marino (4,244) and Iceland (1199) are worse than Italy.
- Switzerland was once touted as doing well. Not today, with a rate of 620 cases / one million population.
- For a while the Philippines looked precarious, but there was only one new death yesterday, with 18 deaths, for 230 cases.
- India only has 5 total deaths, with one yesterday, of 249 total cases. India shows a cases per million population rate of 0.2. But is this because so few are being tested? In any case, five total deaths for such a large population is amazing.
- Indonesia has had 32 deaths, 7 yesterday, with 60 new cases of 369 total.
- Hong Kong has seen a jump in cases, with 48 new cases of 256 total cases, but with no deaths.
- Russia also saw a jump yesterday, with 54 more new cases of 253 total cases, and one death.
- Watch Dominican Republic, with 38 new cases of 72 total cases, and two deaths.
- Mexico has had only one death and no new ones, but new cases jumped 46 of 164 total cases.
- South Korea has had 94 deaths, with 3 yesterday of 8652 total cases, at 169 cases/ one million population
- Japan has had 33 deaths, with none yesterday, and a total of 963 cases, which is 8 cases / one million population.
- Singapore has had no deaths, with 385 cases, at 66 cases / one million population.
- Australia added 120 new cases, bringing the total up to 924, but no new deaths yesterday.
- Canada added 51 new cases, total of 924, with no new deaths yesterday.
- Thailand has had one death with 322 cases, but added 50 cases yesterday.
So what is the bottomline today?
- China, Japan and Singapore seem safely out of trouble.
- The U.S. is testing more and more, but the past three days nevertheless have shown declines in the number of new deaths from the day before.
- Even if there are bumps along the way, the 24-hour death figure should remain under 50, and more probably, approach 10 or lower over the next week.
- With the lockdown strategies, some significant signs of control should begin to be felt by the end of this month.
- But when will the U.S. stock market re-gain any confidence and American governments begin to open things up regarding schools, restaurants, entertainment (sports, theaters, etc) and travel (at least domestically)?
- I still think this will be mid-May, if not earlier.
- Canada and Australia had no deaths yesterday.
- Closing our border with Mexico and Canada appears not to protect us from them, but more to cut-off people from other countries attempting to gain an entrance through them. Well, Donald Trump has succeeded in his wall, now called the Chinese virus.
– China has closed down its last coronavirus hospital. Not enough new cases to support them.
– Doctors in India have been successful in treating Coronavirus. Combination of drugs used: Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine. They are going to suggest same medicine, globally.
– Researchers of the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus.
– A 103-year-old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from COVID-19 after being treated for 6 days in Wuhan, China.
– Apple reopens all 42 china stores,
– Cleveland Clinic developed a COVID-19 test that gives results in hours, not days.
– Good news from South Korea, where the number of new cases is declining.
– Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe.
– Scientists in Israel likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine.
– 3 Maryland coronavirus patients fully recovered; able to return to everyday life.
– A network of Canadian scientists are making excellent progress in Covid-19 research.
– A San Diego biotech company is developing a Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and National University of Singapore.
– Tulsa County’s first positive COVID-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests, which is the indicator of recovery.
– All 7 patients who were getting treated for at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi have recovered.
– Plasma from newly recovered patients from Covid -19 can treat others infected by Covid-19.
I can add a few more:
- Air pollution world-wide has diminished.
- All those travel restrictions and closure of industries have helped remediate global warming.
- Most cities see less traffic congestion.
- Gasoline is cheaper (not Hawaii, of course, but below $2/gallon in 19 states), although you can also thank the Russian - Saudi Arabian feud.
- Many of us get more sleep, which is good for our health and increases our immunity to COVID-19.
- I'm reducing my pile of magazines piling up the past few months and finally getting my money's worth for my monthly subscription to Netflix.
- Amazon.com has become indispensable.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment