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     This site has a Coronavirus Worldometer, with up to the hour figures.

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     We live in most unique times.  Were it not for Covid-19, April 12 would be entered in the history books as the date that Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt died, and this web site would be marking its 75th Anniversary properly.  My gratitude to Taylor F for the 4 mins+ historical video. 

 

      Springtime, it is difficult to keep up with the stats.  The Recovery stage, however, is where we are at in May, with many people fighting for their lives.  Let us remember the early days when back on March 19, the number of people who had recovered/discharged were 108 out of 9,216 infected patients.   Those in mild condition were 9,152. 

      At the close of Tuesday, April 7, the number of people who had recovered/discharged were about 21,674 out of 365,884 infected cases, with 9,169 considered critical.  Deaths per 1M population: 39; in Italy it was 283 and China 2.  I recorded the following solemn numbers from the site Worldometer.   Numbers dead in the U.S.: Sunday Mar 22 recorded 388 U.S. deaths; with 178 recovered.  Monday Mar 23, at 830 pm it was 582 deaths.  Fri closed with 1701 dead; Sat Mar 28 2pm: 2,227.  Sun Mar 29: 2484.  And, Mon 9 pm Mar 30 had seen killed 3,165 people.  Tues Mar 31: 4,059 deaths. Apr 1 Wed 5:28 am: 4,059.  Fri  Apr 3 at 8pm 7,402.   A week later, death closed the lives of 14,795 people.  Sat Apr 11 9pm  20,577 PLUS recovered 30,453.  Mon Apr 13:  23,644.   Almost a week later, Sun 10 pm  40,565 dead, and out of 764,265 infected cases 71,012 recovered.  Of a population of 328.2 million people in the United States, 3.8 million people were administered a test, by that Sun 10 pm.  

     On April 11, the number of people who had recovered/discharged were 30,453 out of 481,849 infected cases, with 11,471 considered critical.  Those in mild condition were 470,378.  The number of deaths in America due to COVID-19 was 20,577, as of 9 pm.  U.S. Deaths per 1M population Apr 11: 62, however, in New York it was 440. 

      Tues Apr 7 at 7 pm: 12,854.  At 1040 pm Wed Apr 8: 14,795.  Then it accelerated again, Thu 11 pm 16,697 dead.    April 10, FRiDAY 3pm, 18,664 and an acceleration again.  Then, it began to show signs of slowing down.   About a month later, May 1, Sat 11pm  67,448.  May 2 Sun 8pm=68,598.  Tues 8pm:  72,271.  Th May 7, 8pm: 76,928.   Sat, 6 am: 78,622.  Six days later at 9pm: 88,507.  Memorial Day 10 pm= 99,805.  Mon Jun1 10pm: 106,925.  Tu Jun 2 9pm: 108,059.  Jun 7 1030pm: 112,469.   All times Pacific.  

      Total number of active cases mid-morning Apr 22: 699,823.

      Total number of active cases early-morning May 9: 1,019,852. 

      Total number of active cases early-morning June 9: 1,142,683. 

       Patients who had recovered/discharged Apr 22 were 83,420.  The number of tests administered in America also Apr 22 due to COVID-19 was 4,241,676 as of 1030 am.    U.S. Deaths per 1M population Apr 22: 139.  Deaths per 1M population in NY Apr 22: 1,028.  Sorry to state, but the highest number of deaths in the U.S. in a 24-hour period (was): Apr 21: 2,804.

       On May 8, the number of people who had recovered/discharged were 223,603 out of 1,019,567 infected cases, with 16,978 considered critical.  Those in mild condition some 701,000.  Total tests in the U.S. at the end of May 8 was 8,636,435. 

 

    

 

    ABC  World News Tonight reported as early as March 16 the demand for testing far outweighed many states capacity.    In some states it has improved, in others not really.  Community spread of the virus is the hot topic.  Watch all 4 mins of video.  

   A glimmer of positive news concerns the time it takes to do a test.  

   Normally, a test process takes days, but with gigantic algorithmic effort, some claim processing with results can be handled in hours.  One is from Indiana, one from the Philippines.   One is from Roche Molecular Solutions.  One from Dusseldorf, Germany.  And an extra note, from the University of Minnesota Medical School and Dr. Tim Schacker who are studying a drug that might actually slow COVID-19.

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      At the close of May, the number of people unemployed was 26 million people.  

      And, the U.S. unemployment rate was at an all time high of 14.70 percent in April of 2020 (the record low was  2.50 percent in May of 1953) meaning over 26 million Americans had no job—the worst in about 87 years.  There is a group of international fraudsters which had appeared to have mounted an immense, sophisticated attack on U.S. unemployment systems.  Translation, please. The attackers have used detailed information about U.S. citizens to create a secret network that has siphoned millions of dollars in payments that were intended for Americans.   “This is a gut punch,” said Suzi LeVine, the commissioner of Washington State’s Employment Security Department.  More information can be read about this ring with a trail leading to Nigeria and is found in this N.Y Times article.  

      The 26 million unemployed are numbers that approached the numbers from the Great Depression, with one major difference.  It took months and months in the Great Depression, but in 2020, in took less than 4 months and that is how roaring things were.  There is one bright part of the picture, however.   The U.S. unemployment rate has begun to go down.  It declined to 13.3 percent according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics June 5.  

       Although Covid-19 is a killer--although  compared to the flu,  (my gratitude to VOX for this excellent example explaining the gravity) some say it is not as bad, which I disagree because percentage wise it is a killer—the current unemployment situation of a no-job-prospect is a killer to many family lifestyles if it is left to persist.   Think of the families and individuals who will feel it. An imminent economic collapse?  If you have time, see this short 4 min video by John Chapple.  

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      WE ARE AT WAR, my gratitude to ABC News.

      Abnormal measures is the new normal as one American reporter put it on TV.

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      Italy is still hit hard, so hard they were running out of space to hold coffins.  See a strange scene, of military trucks filled with coffins traveling in slow convoy out of the city because local morgues ran out of space. Click here to see all of these news.  Historically speaking, America, meaning her infrastructure and medical forces were unprepared, as this MSNBC report with Rachel Maddow  illustrates (8mins05).   New York state surpassed the other 49 states with the most people stricken with COVID-19, on March 20.  Disinfectants, self-isolation, bewildering shortage of testing, restrictive access, and incredibly long lines has become the new part of life.  From March 16 on, over 36 million school kids are not gong to school, meaning this is how serious this is.  Allow me a historian's perspective on the early days.

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      The layoffs and bankruptcies are what worries the author.  However, should worries of layoffs offset the situation involving lives struggling to live and breathe?   Death on a worldwide scale in terms compared to the flu is, some people say, not as acute as death by flu, yet it does not erase the rising death tolls attributed to COVID-19.  Italy began it all when Italy's death toll jumped by 475 from the previous day on March 18 (with 35,713 reported cases) but, by March 27, the daily death toll sprang to 919.  On the 11th of April, Italy’s total deaths hit 19,468 and its reported cases rose to some 100,000.  Spain and France, were the next two hardest hit, respectfully in the 16 thousand and 13 thousand range.  Unfortunately, America has overtaken everybody, with a death toll of 20,500.      

       I wrote about this hospital observation in March, but I feel it is still relevant.  It is an observation from a frontline report by Stuart Ramsay who was granted special access into the intensive care unit.  Listen to the beeping in the background, the beeping in the background; my gratitude to Sky News Australia. Those scenes were repeated worldwide in many hospitals, while out on the streets we saw scenes of deserted-like cities, New York, London, (credit to AFP) Madrid, Paris and others deserted, (credit to South China Morning Post and BFMTV) due to lock-downs.  This May, began the strategy of lessening those lock-downs, and how it will play will be determined by time and how beneficial it becomes and to whom. 

      Here is a helpful timeline on this COVID-19 from NBC.  

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     Senator Kim Schrier from Washington recently stated, “This will require all of us to step up and do our part….Even if you yourself may be at low risk, because of your age and your health, we know that you can pass this disease to others.  And, unless we take this on as a whole community,  we are going to see a very big spike, and people needing to access hospitals, ICUs, ventilators, and our hospitals cannot accommodate that kind of spike.  So, please follow the guidance.”  Senator Schrier is also a physician.   For now, we end with this thought: COVID-19 could be highly sensitive to warmer temperatures (3mins45).  Press here to see how it all started.  An author's flying components:  What can we expect or may expect?  Press here.