Dear Reader:

Worldometer (August 6): over 19 million cases and over 712 thousand deaths worldwide. Almost 5 million cases and getting close to 162 thousand deaths in the U.S.; more than 55 thousand new cases and 1,311 new deaths in the U.S. reported yesterday. 225 new deaths were reported in Florida, 220 new deaths in Texas and 169 new deaths in California reported regarding yesterday, Aug 5, and a lesser number of new cases in FL and CA than  recently, but still high in TX. In New York: 10 new deaths yesterday, same number as the day before yesterday.

The new deaths reported for yesterday, Aug 5, is as follows in descending order (I am listing only the 4 and 3 digit numbers): 1,322  in Brazil, 1,311 in the U.S., 919 in India, 857 in Mexico,  414 in South Africa,  221 in Peru, 185 in Iran,  and 139  in Russia.

The U.S. administered more tests than any other country (more than 62.5 thousand tests), but when you look at the number of tests per million people, that is, the percentage of the population that was tested, these are some of the numbers in descending order:  Luxemburg, a small European country of just over 620 thousand people, more than 995 thousand tests per million population were reportedly done: 99.5% of the population was tested. Bahrain, a small country in the Persian Gulf with a 1.6 million population:50.8% of the population was tested. Iceland, a small country of under 350 thousands: 43.8% of the population was tested. Denmark: 28.5% of the population tested. The UK: 25.7% of the population tested. The U.S.: 18.8 of the population was tested. India: 0.16% of the population was tested.

Looking at the reported number of deaths during the pandemic so far, most deaths have been in the U.S., over 160 thousands. Looking at the number of deaths per million people, this is a list of the countries with the highest deaths per million population in descending order: Belgium- 850 (that is, 0.00085% of the population died of the disease). UK- 683,  Peru- 613, Spain- 610, Italy- 582, Sweden- 571, Chile- 517, USA- 489, France- 464, Brazil- 459, Mexico- 385, Netherland- 359, Panama- 359,  Ireland- 357, Ecuador- 331.

Los Angeles Times, Southeast L.A. already faced many ills. Now it’s the epicenter of coronavirus (Aug 6): “infections skyrocketing in its mostly working-class Latino communities. The sharp increase since the economy reopened around Memorial Day (May 25) shows the virus is spreading rapidly through factories, stores and other workplaces and into communities with higher rates of poverty, more crowding and many essential workers who make the economy tick… The region reported more than 27,000 new cases over the last two months, the most in the county. The area now accounts for 19% of new infections, although it comprises just 12% of the countywide population, the Times analysis shows.

“The southeast region, with 1.2 million people.. is home to many low-wage, front-line workers, and residents there are more likely to live in overcrowded, multigenerational households- key risk factors in accelerating spread of the virus, according to experts. In contrast, the more affluent and majority-white Westside-.. recorded about 3,000  new cases and showed a  much slower increase, the Times analysis found.

“Stay-at-home orders and other aggressive measures imposed early in the pandemic had a ‘huge blind spot,’ Hayes-Bautista said. They overlooked those who kept working as meat processors, delivery drivers, grocery clerks, construction workers and other essential jobs- work often performed without N95 masks, or other protections- and enabled white-collar workers to shelter at home…

“‘I think all the attention has been on people hanging out in bars and restaurants,’ said Manuel Pastor, a professor of sociology at USC. ‘But someone is working the back rooms in those places as well as continuing to go to construction sites, ride public transit, and head home to overcrowded household.'”.. Across the county, areas with the highest poverty rates are experiencing infection rates that are nearly five times higher than areas with the lowest poverty figures. That gap has widened in recent weeks as wealthier areas have seen much slower growth in case numbers.”

CNN, The world may never eradicate coronavirus, but it can get it under control, Fauci says (Aug 6): “Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that the ‘highly transmissible’ virus isn’t likely to be eradicated from the planet. The conclusion drawn by the nation’s leading infectious disease expert contrasts with that of President Trump, who on Wednesday said the virus will ‘go away’.

“Fauci said he US can get on top of the virus with a good vaccine and prudent safety measures- like masks, hands washing and social distancing. ‘We may need to go through a season of it and then the next season, if we have a vaccine, it won’t be a pandemic, it won’t be immobilizing the world, it won’t be destroying the economy.’ he said…

“Case numbers are being driven up by people who are not taking the virus seriously, Fauci told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta. ‘The good news about Covid-19 is that about 40% of the population has no symptoms.. The bad news, for messaging, is that 40% of the population get no symptoms.’ That makes it difficult to present a clear and consistent message about the dangers of the virus…

“Since the beginning of June, the case rate for people in the age group of 30 to 49 nearly tripled and the case rate for people between the ages of 18 to 29 nearly quadrupled, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said. ‘This is also the age group that is most likely to be attending the large parties that we keep seeing,’ said Dr. Ferrer…

“Early in the outbreak, health experts believed severe infections and spread were less likely among children. But more recent data shows that while children are far less likely to die from Covid-19 than adults, they can still pass the disease on to others. As schools have begun to resume classes on campus, students and teachers have tested positive or were sent into quarantine from the virus. But keeping students home could lead to millions of parents being forced to quit their jobs, according to economists from Goldman Sachs.”

A few of my comments: a more visibly alarming virus, such as Ebola that causes visible external bleeding and kills on average 50% of the people it infects,  motivates people to do whatever it takes to avoid it, but the damage that SARS-Cov-2, the  virus behind Covid-19, causes is way less visible, and the beginning symptoms are similar to the very familiar and not so alarming flu symptom, so we are less alarmed. And the mortality rate is so low, compared to Ebola that .. again, we are way less alarmed, especially younger people, and those with no pre-existing conditions.

And this is what makes SARS-Cov-2 more dangerous than Ebola- many people are way less scared of this virus than of Ebola, and so the spread continues and the death toll rises, with no end in sight-

– no end unless and until people socially distance, wear masks; until leaders who are in denial stop fueling the denial of millions, and start implementing measures that need to be implemented, until effective vaccines are manufactured and become available to millions of people.

anita