Coronavirus Facts and Figures: Friday, June 26, 2020 – Cases Approach 10 Million, Deaths 500,000

By Anna Breuer on 26 June 2020
  • Share

Moscow at night, photographed from the Four Seasons Moscow

The number of coronavirus cases across the globe now stands at 9.75 million, an increase of over 180,573 people in the past 24 hours.  Out of this, 5.28 million have recovered, based on data compiled by Worldometer, a service that aggregates and makes available world statistics. The death toll now stands at 492,671.

The number of daily deaths was 5,179 on Tuesday.

The number of active cases continues to increase dramatically.  As of Wednesday, there are 3.98 million active cases worldwide, an increase of almost quarter of a million since Monday, and 5.77 million closed cases.  Out of the active cases, 3.92 million are mild and 1% or 57,480 are severe.

In the United States and its territories, the number of confirmed cases stands at 2.5 million, an increase of almost 40,000, while the death toll stands at 126,839.

The figure is the highest single-day total since the start of the pandemic.

The increase is being attributed to a mixture of increased testing, the lifting of lockdowns, and the lack of social distancing and other precautions in recent protests in the country.

For months, the epicenter was in states in the Northeast but, more recently, the biggest increases have been observed in the South and the West.

Brazil continues to have the second highest number of cases in the world, and crossed the one million mark Monday with 1.23 million as of Friday, with a death toll of 55,054.  Meanwhile, Russia has the third highest number, with 620,724, up 6,800 in the past 24 hours. The death toll there is 8,513, a figure that officials in the United States continue to consider an undercount.

The critical R0 figure in Germany rose from 1.79 to 2.88 over the weekend, according to the Robert-Koch-Institut, and officials placed two towns, Gütersloh and Warendorf, under lockdown.  A few days earlier it had been below 1.0.

R0, pronounced “r naught,” is a mathematical term that indicates how contagious an infectious disease is.  Based on a seven-day average, the reproduction rate jumped to 2.03, according to RKI statistics from Sunday.  In Austria, the number of cases was up by 48, to 17,271, and the infection rate continues to average around 1.0.

While international correlation of these figures are difficult, perhaps the most useful comparison is to look at the deaths per million members of the population, with the caveat that there are differences in how countries record deaths. It’s also important to keep in mind that the number of deaths is a lagging indicator.

Tiny San Marino, with a population of just over 33,000 and which has been testing all of its inhabitants, continues to have the highest number of deaths per million members of the population, at 1,238, unchanged for 34 days.

Belgium has the second highest number of deaths per million members of the population, 840. It is followed by Andorra with 673 (unchanged in 10 days) and the United Kingdom with 637.  Spain reported 606 (unchanged in 30 days), Italy, 574 while Sweden and France reported 523 and 456, respectively.

The Netherlands, Ireland, and Switzerland have reported 356 (unchanged in 3 days), 350, and 227, respectively.  In Germany the figure is 108, while in Austria it is 78.

The number of deaths per million members of the population in the United States is now 383.  It remains three in China, according to official figures there, which are also believed to be an undercount.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Accura News