Monday, April 13th, 2020

New York City has an infection rate of 12.1 per 1000 people. This is the highest of any region in the United States. The number of confirmed cases has a doubling rate of about 10 days. The has been very slowly, but steadily dropping. New York City has a population of 8.7 million people. It has so far suffered a death rate of 0.8 per 1000 people.

New York State has a rate of 9.7 per 1000 residents, followed by New Jersey (7.0), Louisiana (4.4), Massachusetts (3.7), Connecticut (3.4), Rhode Island (2.5) and Michigan (2.4)

The days with the highest death tolls so far and the highest numbers of new cases have occurred in the last week in New York City, which is the hardest hit region, of the country have occurred in the last week. The doubling rate has decreased from about four days to 10.

There are several indications including new hospital admissions that virus’ exponential spread has plateaued and will soon begin to decline. Although New York City has experienced 6 staright days with over 700 deaths, it may have peaked at about 800 deaths per day.

 

Sunday, Apr 12th, 2020

OPEC and Russia announce they have struck a deal to cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day, the largest such cut agreed upon, starting May 1. (BBC)

Johns Hopkins University records 2,108 more deaths [this past Friday] from COVID-19 in the United States, the highest daily death toll in the country to date, bringing the U.S. death toll to 18,693 and 500,399 confirmed cases. The U.S. becomes the first country to report over 2,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day. (BBC)

In a major setback for efforts to declare the end of the outbreak on Sunday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo reports the first case of Ebola since February. The outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people since August 2018. (Reuters)

World celebrates Easter during pandemic People around the world are celebrating Easter Sunday in a variety of ways while many are under stay-at-home orders amid the novel COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Pope Francis celebrated Mass inside a mostly empty St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City while people watched from home on their televisions. Normally, tens of thousands would gather in St. Peter’s square to hear him deliver his “Urbi et Orbi” speech. Christians in the United States have mostly been preparing to celebrate virtually, as well, though some pastors are reportedly planning to hold in-person services in defiance of state restrictions, citing religious freedoms. Other churches plan to hold drive-in services. Source: The Associated Press

IRS begins depositing stimulus checks The Internal Revenue Service on Saturday announced it sent out the first wave of stimulus checks to Americans amid the novel COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Deposits will continue throughout the week, beginning with people who filed tax returns in 2018 and 2019 and authorized direct deposit. The IRS is encouraging those who haven’t filed to do so, so they can get their money sooner. Under the congressional relief package, individuals with adjusted gross incomes under $75,000 will receive $1,200, and couples will get $2,400 plus $500 per child. After the $75,000 threshold, the amount received will be reduced by $5 for every additional $100 in gross income, eventually halting at $99,000. The limits are doubled for couples. Source: CNN

 

Saturday,  Apr 11th, 2020

Paul McCartney’s handwritten copy of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is sold in a virtual auction for US$910,000, almost six times its estimated value. (CNN)

Brazil becomes the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to surpass 1,000 deaths from COVID-19, as the death toll rises to 1,068 and 19,789 total cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. (BBC)

 

 

Friday,  Apr 10th, 2020

EU finance ministers agree on a €540 billion loan package to alleviate the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. (The New York Times)

 

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/coronavirus-deaths-united-states-each-day-2020-n1177936