By Eric Zuesse
June 6, 2020
As of the end of the day on May 28th (start of May 29th), there had been a global total of 5,900,880 confirmed cases of Covid-19 (or coronavirus-19), and 361,776 total deaths confimed from that disease. That’s a 6.1% death-rate.
However, it varies considerably by country. Here are the ten countries having the most coronavirus cases, and, for each of these countries, the number of cases and of deaths which have resulted from its cases, and then the percentage-ratio of those deaths to its total number of cases:
1: USA, 1,768,461 / 103,330 / 5.8%
2: Brazil, 438,812 / 26,991 / 6.2%
3: Russia, 379,051 / 4,142 / 1.1%
4: Spain, 284,986 / 37,119 / 13.0%
5: UK, 269,127 / 37,837 / 14.1%
6: Italy, 231,732 / 33,142 / 14.3%
7: France, 186,238 / 28,662 / 15.3%
8: Germany, 182,452 / 8,570 / 4.7%
9: India, 165,386 / 4,711 / 2.8%
10: Turkey, 160,979 / 4,461 / 2.8%
Some other countries (which I have previously discussed and analyzed here):
25: Sweden, 35,727 / 4,266 / 11.9%
47: Denmark, 11,512 / 568 / 4.9%
15: China, 82,995 / 4,634 / 5.6%
48: S. Korea, 11,344 / 269 / 2.4%
101: Venezuela, 1,325 / 11 / 0.1%
139: Taiwan, 441 / 7 / 0.2%
147: Vietnam, 327 / 0 / 0.0%
And here, that will be repeated, but at the end of each line now will be added, first, the nation’s infection-rate (number of cases per million of population); and, second, the percentage that the number of cases there increased on May 28th (this latter being an indication as to how rapidly Covid-19 is now spreading in that country); and, third, that nation’s overall death-rate (deaths per million population) from the epidemic:
1: USA, 1,768,461 / 103,330 / 5.8% / 5,346 / 1.3% / 312
2: Brazil, 438,812 / 26,991 / 6.2% / 2,066 / 5.5% / 127
3: Russia, 379,051 / 4,142 / 1.1% / 2,598 / 2.2% / 28
4: Spain, 284,986 / 37,119 / 13.0% / 6,096 / 0.4% / 580
5: UK, 269,127 / 37,837 / 14.1% / 3,966 / 0.7% / 558
6: Italy, 231,732 / 33,142 / 14.3% / 3,832 / 0.3% / 548
7: France, 186,238 / 28,662 / 15.3% / 2,854 / 1.8% / 439
8: Germany, 182,452 / 8,570 / 4.7% / 2,178 / 0.3% / 102
9: India, 165,386 / 4,711 / 2.8% / 120 / 4.4% / 3
10: Turkey, 160,979 / 4,461 / 2.8% / 1,911 / 0.7% / 53
Some other countries:
25: Sweden, 35,727 / 4,266 / 11.9% / 3,540 / 1.8% / 423
47: Denmark, 11,512 / 568 / 4.9% / 1,988 / 0.3% / 98
15: China, 82,995 / 4,634 / 5.6% / 58 / 0.0% / 3
48: S. Korea, 11,344 / 269 / 2.4% / 221 / 0.7% / 5
101: Venezuela, 1,325 / 11 / 0.1% / 47 / 6.0% / 0.4
139: Taiwan, 441 / 7 / 0.2% / 19 / 1.6% / 0.3
147: Vietnam, 327 / 0 / 0.0% / 3 / 0.0% / 0.0
Verbal explanations for the above variations between countries can be found in my May 24th “Ideology and Coronavirus”, and in my May 11th “America’s Percentage of World’s Coronavirus Cases Is Now Declining”.
Obviously, the best-governed countries would be those that have the lowest infection-rate, the slowest (if any) increase-rate, and the lowest overall Covid-19 death-rate. Those are the three bottom-line measures, and, for each one of these countries, they are the last three numbers that are being shown here.
The biggest public-policy finding that is proven in the existing data is (as I stated it in each of those prior two articles):
In order to minimize the economic damage, controlling the epidemic is basic — whatever is sound policy for the public’s health is also sound economic policy.
The supposed either-or choice (trade-off) that exists between those two objectives does not exist.
* Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.