The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has now been contracted by over 1 million people globally since it emerged in China around December 2019 and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, according to Johns Hopkins University. It’s caused 51,485 deaths and resulted in 208,949 recoveries.
- The landmark illustrates the rapid, exponential growth of the virus: a week ago, on March 26, the number of confirmed cases crossed half a million, and a month before that, it was only at 82,700.
- China (82,432 cases) has fallen behind Germany (84,600), Spain (110,238), Italy (115,242) and the United States (236,339) as the hardest-hit countries in the pandemic. While Germany, Spain and Italy are under national lockdowns, several states in the U.S. remain open, with Florida, a state with one of the oldest and most vulnerable populations in the country, only just now enacting a stay-at-home order on April 1.
- Italy and Spain are the sites of the deadliest outbreak with 13,915 and 10,096 deaths, respectively, while the U.S. has recorded 5,648 deaths, though the White House on March 31 said to expect between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths even with full mitigation policies.
- According to Agence France-Presse, an estimated one-third of the world’s population is under some form of lockdown to slow the spread of the virus. Wuhan, China, where the virus is believed to have originated, has recently loosened its stringent quarantine that went into effect January 23 as cases have slowed across the country.
- With global lockdowns, the coronavirus has greatly impacted the economy, especially in the U.S. where stocks have tanked more than 20% in the worst quarterly decline since 1987, leading to a record 6.65 million unemployment claims for the week ending March 28 and mass layoffs. In reaction, President Trump signed a bipartisan $2 trillion stimulus bill on March 27, the largest aid package in history.
- A number of major figures including United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson have tested positive for the virus. Public figures easily getting tests have drawn some criticism given the shortages of tests in countries like the U.S.
Crucial Quote: “Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area,” said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a briefing Wednesday, where he warned of the impending milestone.
Key Background: Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang was integral in sharing news to the public about a “SARS-like” disease in December 2019. Police officially reprimanded him for his viral posts and forced him to sign a letter accusing him of “spreading rumors online” and “severely disrupting social order.” The virus spread globally through January and February, with Li contracting the disease and dying in early February.
Tangent: Countries like South Korea have found success mitigating the outbreak, partly in the sheer amount of tests run and partly through contact tracing, which helps people find out if they’ve been exposed to others infected with the virus. Bill Gates, the world’s second-richest person, has been in favor of some sort of national tracking system to predict and prevent spread. There’s been a number of smartphone apps attempting to do just that, but questions arise over user privacy.
Big Number: 500 million. That’s how many people were infected during the 1918 influenza pandemic, which at the time was a third of the world’s population. Over 50 million people were believed to have died.
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