COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

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Detected infections per 100,000 population in United States counties
Absolute number of detected infections in the states and outskirts of the United States as of July 1, 2020: No confirmed cases <5,000 5,000-10,000 10,001-125,000 125,001-325,000 > 325,000







The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States occurs as a regional sub- event of the global COVID-19 pandemic and is based on infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which emerged at the end of 2019 . The COVID-19 pandemic has been spreading worldwide from China since December 2019 . In March 2020, the United States was among the countries with the fastest growing numbers of infections and deaths, along with Iran , South Korea , Italy , France , Germany and Spain . As of March 8, 2020, there were confirmed infections in 32 of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia ; the number was given as at least 554, of which 213 confirmed plus eleven deaths. On March 27, 2020, the United States outperformed the People's Republic of China with 86,000 people who tested positive and was the country with the most COVID-19 cases. The United States replaced Italy as the country with the highest number of reported deaths on April 12, with 20,608 deaths.

At the end of April 2020 there were 1,035,353 registered infected people and 55,337 dead,
at the end of May there were 1,734,040 registered infected people (+ 67.5%) and 101,567 dead (+ 83.5%),
at the end of June there were 2,573,393 registered infected people (+ 48.4%) and 126,573 dead (+ 24.6%),
at the end of July there were 4,456,389 registered infected people (+ 73.2%) and 151,265 dead (+ 19.5%).

course

Briefing for US President Donald Trump on the coronavirus in China, White House, January 2020

At the end of November, US intelligence officials warned President Trump that a wave of contagion was spreading across the Chinese region of Wuhan, and at the beginning of January 2020 the National Security Council advised him of the risk of a major pandemic; also at the end of January by his economic advisor Peter Navarro and by Minister of Health Alex Azar . Trump remained almost inactive.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first coronavirus infection in the United States on January 21, 2020.

Similar to the Iran leaves (especially in the initial phase), the high number of deaths in relation to the officially reported infections high in the United States unreported suspect. In the autopsy of two people who died on February 6 and 17, COVID-19 diseases were subsequently detected.

As of March 8, 2020, the number of verified deaths reached 22, including 18 in Washington state alone . However, there were only 123 confirmed infections from that state at the time. Trump accused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of being jointly responsible for the downturn in the stock markets at the end of February 2020 through their “extreme warnings”. On March 8, 2020, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on the discrepancy between official numbers and actual infections. The CDC reported 164 infections, including eleven deaths, while Johns Hopkins University reported 436 infections and seventeen deaths. By mid-March, only a few hundred tests were being done a day in the United States. A test kit developed by the CDC under Robert Redfield , which had been developed despite a WHO kit that was already working, turned out to be faulty and had to be withdrawn. How many of those tested were actually infected therefore initially remained largely unclear.

The widespread prevalence of the pandemic in the United States can also be attributed to a lack of transparency in politics, the inadequate preparation of medical institutions and close economic ties with China and Italy. The latter was already evident in the Crimson Contagion simulation game carried out by several federal agencies in 2019 that simulated the course of a pandemic flu that broke out in China and that would have infected up to 110 million Americans.

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden canceled major campaign events for the current presidential election in early March . Trump, however, said he wanted to continue his election campaign unchanged.

On May 7, 2020, the first corona case was reported in the White House, a US Marine working as a butler. The following day it was announced that Mike Pence's press secretary had also tested positive.

While corona cases had decreased significantly in many western countries by June 2020, they remained at a high level in the USA. Even so, many restrictions on public life were lifted.

At the beginning of July 2020, the number of new infections tested rose over 50,000 people in one day for the first time.

statistics

The data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the sum of the US states may differ depending on the system. New York City has also registered 3,778 probable COVID-19 deaths since April 14. These are cases with no official diagnosis but with symptoms. Therefore, they do not appear in the national statistics.

According to the JHU, on May 11, 2020, in absolute numbers, the USA is the most affected country. In April 2020 33% of those infected worldwide lived in the USA at times, at the end of May the figure was 30%; 28% of those who died from COVID-19 lived in the states. More people tested positive in the US than in Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany combined; moreover, more people have now died in the USA than in Great Britain and Italy combined. The US state of New York alone had more infected people from April to May 25, 2020 than any other country except the US itself and was the sixth largest death worldwide. In terms of the number of infected people, New York was then surpassed by Brazil and Russia, and in terms of the dead by Brazil.

Between the end of March and the end of May, an average of 25,000 new infections were registered daily in the USA; the number of registered deaths related to COVID-19 averaged 1,582 daily.

An analysis of the number of deaths from March 1 to May 30, 2020 showed an excess mortality that was 28% higher than the number of COVID deaths reported in the period. The authors of the study most likely attributed the difference to a gap in the recording of COVID deaths.


Confirmed infections (cumulative) in the United States
according to WHO data

  1. On May 10, there is a break in the series due to a change in the reporting system of the US Health Department (CDC), s. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Situation Report – 111, p. 1

Confirmed new infections per day in the United States,
according to WHO data

  1. On May 10, there is a break in the series due to a change in the reporting system of the US Health Department (CDC), s. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Situation Report – 111, p. 1

Confirmed deaths (cumulative) in the United States
according to WHO data

  1. Values ​​from May 4th were retrospectively adjusted by national authorities, see p. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Situation Report – 105, Annex 1: Data, table and figure notes
  2. On May 10, there is a break in the series due to a change in the reporting system of the US Health Department (CDC), s. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Situation Report – 111, p. 1

Confirmed deaths (per day) in the United States,
according to WHO data

  1. Values ​​from May 4th were retrospectively adjusted by national authorities, see p. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Situation Report – 105, Annex 1: Data, table and figure notes
  2. On May 10, there is a break in the series due to a change in the reporting system of the US Health Department (CDC), s. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Situation Report – 111, p. 1

Outdoor areas

The numbers for the US outskirts are not yet included in the US numbers above.

U.S. outer territories
as of June 18, 2020
Outdoor area Infections Deaths
Puerto Rico 5951 147
Guam 178 5
American Virgin Islands 73 6th
Northern Mariana Islands 30th 2
American Samoa 0 0

Particularly hard hit regions

The city ​​of New York and its surroundings were initially considered to be hardest hit in the United States : 98,715 confirmed corona cases and 6,367 corona deaths were reported for the city of eight million on the morning of April 12, 2020. In the entire state of New York, which has a population of around 20 million, 9,385 corona deaths were reported by the same day, which was almost half of all fatalities in the United States.

On April 14, 2020, New York changed the statistics: 3,700 deaths who had not been tested for COVID-19 but apparently died of the disease are now in the statistics.

The state of New York (19.45 million inhabitants) named 418,225 positive tested on August 4, 2020 (as of midnight), of which 636 new infections were registered on August 4, 2020.

Florida (about 21 million inhabitants) reported 502,739 positive people who tested positive on August 4, 2020, of which 497,181 were residents of Florida and 5,558 were non-residents (5,409 of which were newly registered on August 4) and 225 on this day of Covid-19 deaths. This increased the total number of COVID deaths to 7,627.

In May 2020, just under one in three of the more than five million corona infections worldwide was reported from the United States.

Social reactions

In the wake of the pandemic, some wealthy Americans traveled to their second homes in Jackson Hole or Teton Range and thus drew the resentment of the locals. Students celebrating spring break parties in Florida during the spring break also caused outrage. In California's Orange and Ventura counties , people flocked to the beaches despite bans. The governor announced tough action against it. According to a study by the Pew Research Center published in early July 2020,  22% of all American adults had either moved because of COVID-19, someone had moved into their home because of COVID-19, or they knew someone who was because of the pandemic moved. Younger adults in particular moved accordingly. Hispanics and Asian Americans were the ethnic groups who were both more likely to move themselves and those who were most likely to know someone who moved. 28% of Hispanics knew at least someone who had moved, as did 24% of Asian Americans. 20% of whites surveyed said they knew at least someone who had moved and 19% of African Americans said they had one of these experiences. Of those who moved, 28% said the main reason was to minimize the risk of infection. 23% cited the cause that their university campus was closed. 20% of the surveyed removals wanted to be with a family member. 18% named financial reasons - 8% named the loss of a job, 10% other financial reasons.

The death of George Floyd in a violent police operation led to extensive protests and demonstrations against racism , regardless of the risk of contagion from the virus. The New York Times referred to 2020 as a "year of national trauma" given the closely spaced events of the first half of the year - impeachment, pandemic, economic crisis and social unrest.

California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a mask requirement on June 18, 2020, which applies to shops, offices and public transport.

International reactions

On March 15, 2020, the German Robert Koch Institute (RKI) classified the three US states of California , Washington and New York as risk areas; from April 2, 2020, the RKI expanded the risk area to the entire United States.

Economic and social consequences

The crisis associated with the pandemic had significant psychological consequences. It is estimated that the number of Americans suffering from an anxiety disorder or depression rose to about a third of the total population. Census data suggest that 24 percent showed clinical signs of depression and 30 percent showed clinically significant anxiety, with a large intersection between groups. The number of deaths  from drug overdoses in the United States rose 18 percent in March 2020, 29 percent in April 2020, and 42 percent in May 2020, compared to the same month last year.

unemployment

As of mid-March 2020, approximately 5.8 million Americans were registered as unemployed. In the four weeks that followed, nearly 22 million more Americans applied for unemployment benefits. In April 2020, the unemployment rate rose from 4.4 percent to 14.7 percent - the highest level since the post-war period. As of May 14, 36.5 million Americans were registered as unemployed.

It is estimated that several million employees lost their health insurance at the same time they left their jobs .

In early April, the US government passed a $ 2 trillion aid package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act - the largest in US history. It is used to help families, the unemployed and companies during the crisis and provides billions in aid for the health system.

The rules governing the award of the $ 349 billion portion of the aid package, which was originally intended to help small restaurants and businesses with fewer than 500 employees, have been watered down by influential hotel and restaurant lobby groups to such an extent that individual branches of large chains are considered separate units could apply for help. As a result, large chains systematically applied for funds for their branches, and the relief fund was already exhausted by April 16, 2020, leaving many smaller stores with no opportunity to receive aid.

In the first quarter of 2020, the US economy shrank by 4.8 percent compared to the previous quarter.

Buying behavior of society

As a result of the pandemic, in addition to the purchase of staple foods, the arms trade in the US has risen sharply. According to the FBI, in January and February 2020 the customer checks that are required for a weapon sale were carried out about 5.5 million times. This clearly exceeded the reviews in the previous years. An online firearm ammunition shipment also reported that between February 23 and March 31, its sales had increased by almost 800% compared to the 40 days before.

Online mail order company Amazon announced 100,000 additional full-time and part-time jobs for warehousing and delivery in the US.

Communication behavior

According to the New York Times , the number of phone calls has increased tremendously compared to other years. Telecommunications giant Verizon said there were twice as many calls a day as on Mother's Day - usually the high point of the year. While Internet use has increased by 20 to 25 percent, there are 35 percent more cell phone calls than before the pandemic. The calls are also an average of 33 percent longer.

International activities

In the wake of the pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump agreed to deliver urgently needed protective equipment to the United States. On the night of March 31st to April 1st, a Russian military aircraft An-124 with medical equipment and protective masks flew into the United States. The medical equipment also included ventilators from the Russian company KRET, which belongs to the state-owned Rostec and has been banned from doing business with the US company due to sanctions imposed .

For its part, the United States suspended the delivery of protective equipment abroad, particularly affecting Latin America and neighboring Canada . In response, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau pointed out that the health system in Detroit, America, works with numerous cross-border commuters from Canada and that his country is supplying the United States with pulp for the masks. In addition, there were reports from several countries that protective equipment purchased from these countries had been diverted to the USA on its way to third countries. Such acts have been denied by the US government.

Controversy

On March 15, 2020, Die Welt am Sonntag reported that US President Donald Trump had tried to send German scientists who are working at the Tübingen-based company Curevac together with the Paul Ehrlich Institute on a vaccine against the novel coronavirus to the USA lure or secure a potential drug exclusively for his country. Trump is doing everything to get a vaccine for the USA, true to the political slogan America First "but only for the USA", it was said in the federal government, which wanted to defend itself against it. A few days later, Dietmar Hopp , who holds 80% of the capital in the company, said that he had rejected the Trump administration. Both the White House and Curevac said there was never an offer from the US government to the company.

The Whip of the Democrats in the House, Jim Clyburn said, according to media reports in March 2020 during a phone call with other MEPs, the forthcoming legislative package for the pandemic was a "tremendous opportunity, things our vision to restructure". These statements were criticized by the Republicans; the majority leader of the Senate , Mitch McConnell , said it was wrong approach and risk for the negotiations to the law. Clyburn later stated that his statement had been taken out of context.

At the end of March 2020, the Texan Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick took the position that, for the good of the economy, seniors must be prepared to risk their lives. For himself there are worse things than an imminent death. The position has been widely criticized as repulsive and cynical.

On April 15, 2020, President Trump threatened to adjourn parliament so that he could override pending confirmations from top nominees ( Recess Appointments ) in the US Senate .

On August 4, 2020, Australian journalist Jonathan Swan interviewed Trump for news website Axios . In it, he spoke to Trump about the high number of Covid 19 deaths in the USA (at that time more than 150,000 plus the number of unreported cases). Trump replied, "They are dying. That's true. It is what it is." (They die, that's right. It is what it is). According to the Urban Dictionary , this ambiguous phrase, especially in the business world, means that someone doesn't care about an unpleasant fact. Joe Biden included excerpts from the interview in a campaign video on Twitter.

See also

Web links

Commons : COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

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