I noted before that using the number of deaths as a statistic had its problems. That is the states could fool around with classifying the reason the person died. For instance, take Russia which has an abnormally low death rate compared with any other country in the world. We find out that they usually report as the cause of death for a person who dies of Covid-19 the underlying cause such as heart condition, diabetes, or pneumonia. There could easily be the same things happening in some of the states which would give them a lower death rate.
I’ll keep looking at those figures assuming that some states are accurately reporting the death figures but I will also looking at the number of reported positive cases. Again using Russia as an example, it has shown itself incapable of speaking the truth since the 1917 Revolution, it seems reporting the number of positive cases is something that it appears to be doing properly. I figure that perhaps that give us a better idea of what is actually happening in the states since the incentive to fudge the figures is not there.
I’m looking at the reports from the Covid Tracking Project which I have followed since beginning to make my Saturday reports. I am covering the 50 states plus DC here. I have used the number of positive cases that increased from the period May 2 to May 8 to compare them with the number that had increased from May 9 TO May 15. This allows me to see if the weekly total is increasing or decreasing and where it is occurring.
The United States saw an increase of 9.46% over that time period. Last week the number of positive cases reported was 157,780 compared to 142,847 the week prior.
Eighteen states and the District of Colombia reported decreases in new positive cases including New York (-13.14%); Massachusetts (-12.14%), New Jersey (-38.88%), California (-41.29%). Colorado (-48.90%) and Vermont (-135.71%). States reporting decreases up to 10% were Rhode Island, Washington, Nebraska, Virginia, West Virginia, Iowa, Alaska, and Indiana. Those aside from those mentioned above 10% decreases were: District of Columbia, Kentucky, Hawaii, Kansas and Missouri.
Thirty-two states reported increases in positive case.
0 to 9% increase: Connecticut, New Mexico, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Utah, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, Oregon.
10 to 19% increase: Alabama, Oklahoma, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Arizona, North Dakota.
20% to 29% increase: Nevada, Michigan, South Dakota, North Carolina, Texas
Then there is Tennessee (37.52%), Louisiana (42.49%), South Carolina (48.38%), Arkansas (58.13%), and Montana (62.50%).
These figures will be more important as time goes by with the openings of the states. I assume this will give us a better look at what is happening in the country.
On another note:
I’m trying to determine more about the 1918 Spanish flu that supposedly killed 50 million or more people worldwide and 650 thousand in the U.S. Interesting to note is the first reported case of the virus was in the United States in March at an Army camp. The question remains is whether it was brought to the European battlegrounds by US soldiers. Another interesting fact is that people in Europe and other areas were famished by the war and living in atrocious conditions which made it ripe for its spread.
But what most intrigues me is how did it stop? It seems to have disappeared in 1920 although some suggest it was gone by the summer of 1919. Hopefully I’ll get some answers on that because it appears that was more deadly than Covid-19 so can we expect the same to happen now?
Will it just disappear as what happened to the Spanish Flu?
“Will it just disappear as what happened to the Spanish Flu?”
You know what Joe Louis said.