Coronavirus Crisis: US Exceeds 5 Million Cases, Brazil Reaches 100,000 Deaths

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has surpassed five million, and countries such as Britain and Greece are facing a new wave of infections. More than half of all COVID-19 patients globally have been identified in three countries: the United States, Brazil, and India.

Sunday, August 9, 2020, August 19, 1399; Today New Zealand is celebrating its hundredth consecutive day without a new confirmed case of coronavirus, but authorities are still urging citizens to follow health recommendations due to a new wave of infections emerging in some countries.

Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of New Zealand’s Health Organization, says this day is “an important milestone” but should not lead to complacency or abandonment of caution. Currently, 23 COVID-19 patients have been identified in New Zealand, all of whom contracted the virus abroad during travel and are in quarantine.

Vietnam’s experience, which went approximately 90 days without identifying a new case and is now again severely combating the spread of coronavirus and COVID-19, has sounded an alarm for many countries.

Vietnam is not the only example. Britain is considered one of Europe’s most affected countries with the coronavirus pandemic, and with 312,500 cases by Sunday, it ranks second among European countries after Spain.

Limitations and compliance with health guidelines in Britain have noticeably reduced new cases over the past two months, but a new wave of infections appears to have begun, with the main causes cited as reopenings and summer travel.

Britain: Most Daily Cases in Last 45 Days

Britain’s Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that 1,062 new confirmed cases of coronavirus were identified in the country in the past 24 hours, marking the first time in the past month and a half that daily cases have exceeded one thousand. The previous day, 758 new cases had been recorded.

Despite this, Boris Johnson, Britain’s Prime Minister, again emphasized the necessity of reopening schools, calling it a “national priority.” He stressed in a tweet that keeping schools closed beyond what is absolutely necessary is socially intolerable and morally irresponsible.

Greece: Most Cases Since the Beginning of the Crisis

Another European country caught in a severe new wave of coronavirus spread is Greece, which, due to its relatively successful pandemic containment and severe dependence on tourism revenue, began issuing permits for many businesses to resume operations from the beginning of summer holidays.

“Tagesschau,” the website of German television channel ARD, reported citing a Greek government official that 203 new cases were identified in the 24-hour period ending on the evening of August 9, the highest daily rate since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in February.

In the past 24 hours, 555 new cases were identified in Germany. Greece has a population of approximately 10.7 million, while Germany has over 83 million.

Half of All Cases in the United States, Brazil, and India

The United States of America, which has been the world’s most severely affected country with COVID-19 since the first weeks of the global pandemic, continues to hold this position, with the number of confirmed cases exceeding the five million mark by Sunday, August 9.

According to data provided by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, the death toll from coronavirus in the United States by Sunday evening exceeded 162,600.

After the United States, Brazil ranks next with approximately 3.12 million cases, with the death toll reaching nearly 100,500.

India is another country with millions of confirmed cases. India’s confirmed cases by Sunday reached 2.153 million, with approximately 43,400 COVID-19 deaths reported.

According to Johns Hopkins University statistics, by August 9, over 19.7 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in 188 countries, and more than 728,000 people have died from COVID-19.

Thus, the United States, Brazil, and India, with over 10 million confirmed cases combined, account for more than half of all cases worldwide.

Source: DW