Via the South China Morning Post: Worldwide coronavirus cases top 12 million. Excerpt:
Global coronavirus cases have passed 12 million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, as evidence mounts of the airborne spread of the disease that has killed more than half a million people in seven months. The number of cases is triple that of severe influenza illnesses recorded annually, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Many hard-hit countries were easing lockdowns put in place to slow the spread of the novel virus, while others, such as China and Australia, implemented another round of shutdowns in response to a resurgence in infections. Experts say alterations to work and social life could last until a vaccine is available.
The first case was reported in China in early January and it took 149 days to hit 6 million cases. It has taken less than a third of that time – just 39 days – to double to 12 million cases, the tally shows.
There have been nearly 550,000 deaths linked to the virus so far, within the same range as the number of yearly influenza deaths reported worldwide. The first death was reported on January 10 in Wuhan, China before infections and fatalities surged in Europe and then later in the United States.
The United States reported a daily global record of 56,818 new Covid-19 infections on July 3 when global cases reached the 11 million mark.
The US recorded a total of 3 million cases on Tuesday, and accounts for more than a quarter of both global cases and global fatalities, putting President Donald Trump’s pandemic strategy under scrutiny.
The national death toll was now expected eclipse 200,000 by Election Day, according to the latest models.
“I am despairing for the future,” said David Eisenman, the director of the UCLA Centre for Public Health and Disasters. “I don’t see anything happening to indicate that [the future] will be much better.”
It took just four weeks for the US to jump from 2 million coronavirus infections to the 3 million mark. Most forecasters now say that, as case counts accelerate at a record pace, it would likely take even less time to surpass 4 million.
