One chart shows how many Americans are dying from the coronavirus each week compared with other common causes of death like heart disease, cancer, and the flu
Category: News & Politics
Via: dignitatem-societatis • 4 years ago • 10 commentsBy: Tyler Sonnemaker and Olivia Reaney for Business Insider
- More than 13,000 Americans died last week from COVID-19, surpassing past weekly averages for other common causes of death like heart disease and cancer.
- The US has reported more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other country: As of Friday morning, more than 667,000 people had gotten sick and more than 32,000 people had died.
- Models are now predicting fewer deaths than before — about 60,000 by August — but experts have warned that the number could rise again if social-distancing measures don't remain in place
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As the new coronavirus continues to spread throughout the US, it's killing more Americans per week than other common causes of death like heart disease and cancer have in past years.
Last week, more than 13,000 people died from COVID-19, surpassing the nearly 12,500 people killed on average each week in 2018 by heart conditions and the 11,500 people killed by cancer, showing just how quickly the virus has taken its toll on American lives.
Over the past few weeks, the US has become the hardest-hit country in the pandemic, with more than 32,000 deaths and 667,000 confirmed cases as of Friday morning. Worldwide, more than 143,000 people have died, meaning the coronavirus has already claimed more lives than outbreaks of the Ebola, MERS, and SARS viruses .
Business Insider compiled data from the COVID Tracking Project , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the US Census Bureau to show how COVID-19 deaths over time compare with other common causes of death in the US: heart disease, cancer, bad flu seasons, and car crashes.
COVID-19 is now killing more Americans weekly than heart disease or cancer did on average per week in 2018.
Business Insider/Olivia Reaney, data from COVID Tracking Project, CDC, NHTSA, Census Bureau
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Here's a screenshot from today's COVID-19 Tracker for the United States.
The red line for confirmed cases is barely bending. It keeps going up and up. Even after several weeks of social distancing and stay at home orders across most of the country, it's just not leveling out.
Today's confirmed cases are 763,597 so far. A week ago it was 558,768.
Today's death count is 40,566 so far. A week ago it was almost half that, at 22,021.
The current prediction is around 60,000 deaths by August if social distancing orders stay in place, but we just had nearly 20,000 deaths in a week.
If the current death rate doesn't drop fast, then we could be looking at 60,000 deaths by the end of next week, before April even ends.
60,000 by August? Does someone need to revise their numbers?
Hell, I checked again and the numbers have already gone up a little, just in the time it took me to crop that screenshot and make that post.
COVID certainly is an issue America and the World will have to deal with. Those 65 and older, of which I myself fall into that category, are at the most risk. However, this virus is a threat to all.
Oddly, and most certainly wish not to make this political in any manner, have noticed certain pundits and politicians of a particular political stripe have indicated that the 'most vulnerable' to this virus should be willing for the sacrifice in order to preserve the economy.
Today the president hinted that if the death toll does not exceed 60,000 his handling of this pandemic will be a success. On that I assume success is a matter of interpretation.
More like an epic failure. We might hit 60,000 by next weekend. 'Liberate the White House' might be trending on Twitter shortly.
When the deaths exceed that number he should be reminded in big bold letters of his ''hint''.
Best laugh I have had in a while!
On the other hand, it's horrible that so many people are dying. I am stunned by the numbers in just 45 days.
Make America Trumpless Again!
It seems like that would involve a dramatic reversal of the current trend.
The continued steep rise in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases seems to indicate that people are not really practicing social distancing or that social distancing is a rather ineffectual method of controlling spread of the virus. The country really has shut down the parts of the economy incompatible with social distancing yet the number of confirmed cases continue to rise.
Of course, the rise in cases may also be explained by expansion of testing. If everyone in the United States was infected with COVID-19 then the graph would indicate the increasing number of tests performed. The number of negative test results is important in assessing the effectiveness of social distancing but that data is not being reported.
The data being provided is more anecdotal in nature. The provided data certainly cannot be used for any sort of reliable predictive modelling. Even with testing the only conclusion that can be drawn with any confidence is 'we don't know'.