World 11.1 million US 2.8 million Brazil 1.5 million
It’s taken just seven days for the number of COVID-19 cases to rise by one million. The number of people being diagnosed in the US is staggering; currently, more than 50,000 every day. Anthony Fauci, their top infectious diseases expert is extremely concerned that there will soon be more than 100,000 new cases every day. Lax restrictions, lack of leadership and the US collective mindset of preserving their personal ‘freedoms’ is combining to create a perfect storm that is sweeping COVID-19 across the country. The warmer summer weather is also a factor as more people head out and about.
Today is Independence Day, July 4th with many celebrations going ahead, exposing thousands more people to the virus. Damp Old Runt arranged a visit to the Mount Rushmore monument for a fireworks celebration.
The situation in Brazil is just as bad, if not worse. Brazil is only testing around 14,000 per million compared to over 100,000 per million in the US, so the number of actual people infected in Brazil could be even higher than in the US. There is no way to know. So many people in poor communities are suffering across the world. There are millions of people who don’t have any way to isolate from others and have to share cramped living space.
There were another 108 cases diagnosed overnight in our state. Daniel Andrews has announced that two more postcodes have been put under restrictions and nine housing commission towers in those suburbs will go into immediate total lockdown, so none of the 3000 residents can leave these buildings for a minimum of five days while testing is undertaken. Those lockdowns may last for two weeks. Residents will be assisted with food deliveries, financial and medical support. There are now over 500 active cases in Melbourne. Hopefully, we can get this escalation in cases under control soon and life can start to return to normal in a few months, but this development is very concerning. By and large we are very fortunate here in Australia and the vast majority of people have been doing the right thing to minimise the spread of this virus. Extensive contact tracing is underway in Melbourne with over 1,500 staff involved.