Updated Mar 29 at 4:41 PM
Facts and Faith, not Fear
The United States leads the world in cases of “confirmed” COVID-19 infections.
We stress “confirmed” cases since it is difficult to believe the accuracy and reliability of the number of cases of actual COVID-19 infections within China. We do not know if China’s reported number of cases of confirmed COVID-19 infections stands lower than the U.S. because there were less tests performed or due to obfuscation. We will probably never know for sure.
WebMD provides the latest updates on cases, government response, travel restrictions, and more here.
Coronavirus cases in U.S.
“Just a little bit of separation can stop a fire from spreading” – CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield
The first coronavirus case in the U.S. was confirmed back on January 20 when a 35-year-old man went to an urgent care clinic in Snohomish County, Washington. He’d recently returned from visiting Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus was first noticed.
Since the first reported case, the virus has spread to all 50 states. The worst-hit state is New York, with more than 40,000 cases and 500 deaths. Other states with high case numbers include New Jersey, Washington, and California.
The first coronavirus death in the United States occurred in late February in Washington state. Since then, about 1,500 people have died in the United States. The only states not reporting deaths are Hawaii, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, citing “extensive community transmission” of COVID-19 in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut late Saturday urged residents to refrain from non-essential travel for 14 days effective immediately. The advisory does not apply to employees of critical infrastructure industries such as trucking, public health professionals, financial services and food supply.
Worldwide Coronavirus Cases
According to Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 701,525 cases and 33,174 deaths worldwide. More than 145,000 people have also recovered.
As of early Sunday afternoon, the U.S. has the most cases followed by Italy’s 97,689, and China’s 81,439:
- United States: 131,366
- Italy: 97,689
- China: 81,439
- Spain: 78,799
- Germany: 60,887
- Iran: 38,309
- France: 37,611
- United Kingdom: 19,522
- Switzerland: 14,795
- Netherlands: 10,923
- Belgium: 10,836
- South Korea: 9,583
The top five in COVID-9 deaths are:
- Italy: 10,779
- Spain: 6,606
- China: 3,300
- Iran: 2,640
- United States: 2,328
- France: 2,314
Rapid-Result Coronavirus Test
The FDA has authorized a coronavirus test that the manufacturer says can tell if someone is infected with the virus within 5 minutes.
The test is meant to be used in places like a doctor’s office, emergency room, or urgent care center. The test will provide results through a platform currently used by many of those locations for tests like flu and strep, instead of sending the throat or nasal swab to a lab for analysis.
The FDA’s emergency use authorization (EUA), does not mean that the FDA has approved the test, but that it is allowing its use because of the coronavirus outbreak.
To read more of the update, go to:
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200124/coronavirus-2020-outbreak-latest-updates
Sources:
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-01/china-concealed-extent-of-virus-outbreak-u-s-intelligence-says
- https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
* The respiratory infection, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), is closely related to SARS and MERS.