This article provides a general overview and documents with the status of locations with the highest death toll from SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The first human cases of COVID-19 were identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and less than 12 months; the world has recorded an estimated total of over 571 thousand deaths. We have compiled a list of the top 5 countries with the most death.
United States
On January 19, 2020, a 35-year-old man presented to an urgent care clinic in Snohomish County, Washington, with a 4-day history of cough and subjective fever. On checking into the clinic, the patient put on a mask in the waiting room. After waiting for approximately 20 minutes, he was taken into an examination room and underwent evaluation by a provider. He disclosed that he had returned to Washington State on January 15 after travelling to visit family in Wuhan, China. That would be the first case of the Covid-19 in the United Stated.
As of July 12, 2020, the number of both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of the COVID-19 disease reported in the United States had reached 3,236,130 with 134,572 deaths reported among these cases.
Brazil
The virus was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a 61-year-old man from São Paulo tested positive, he had recently visited Italy. On 19 June 2020, the country reported its 1 millionth case; at this time, there had been nearly 49,000 reported deaths and as of June 2020, Brazil has the second-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world behind the United States. The City of Rio de Janeiro started a test of five thousand taxi drivers in the city on June 15, 2020. The intention is to verify that drivers are not infected with the coronavirus.
Will Brazil survive?
It was the question on the minds of panellists who took part in an event hosted by Northeastern on June 9 titled “COVID-19 and The New World Order.”
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, 7th of July, 2020 after months of downplaying the virus’ severity. Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in capital Brasilia, and said he is already taking hydroxychloroquine – an anti-malarial drug unproven to effectively treat COVID-19.
I’m well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can’t due to medical recommendations,” Bolsonaro said. “I thought I had it before, given my very dynamic activity. I’m president and on the combat lines. I like to be in the middle of the people.”
United Kingdom
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spread to the United Kingdom in late January 2020. According to Wikipedia, as of 11 July 2020 there have been 288,953 confirmed cases and 44,798 deaths of confirmed cases, the world’s second-highest death rate per capita among major countries. There were 55,124 deaths where the death certificate mentioned COVID-19 by 26 June. More than 90% of those dying had underlying illnesses or were over 60 years old.
On the 27th of March, 2020, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson started self-isolating after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Mexico
The virus was confirmed to have reached Mexico in February 2020. However, the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) reported two cases of COVID-19 in mid-January 2020 in the states of Nayarit and Tabasco, one case per state. As of July 12, there had been 299,750 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mexico and 35,006 reported deaths, although the Secretariat of Health estimated in early May 2020 that there were more than 104,562 cases in Mexico (more than three times the amount of cases at the time) because they were considering the total number of cases confirmed as a statistical sample.
Italy
The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2020, when two Chinese tourists in Rome tested positive. One week later an Italian man repatriated back to Italy from the city of Wuhan, China, was hospitalized and confirmed as the third case in Italy. A cluster of cases was later detected, starting with 16 confirmed cases in Lombardy on 21 February, and 60 additional cases and the first deaths on 22 February. By the beginning of March, the virus had spread to all regions of Italy.
On 31 January, the Italian government suspended all flights to and from China and declared a state of emergency. In February, eleven municipalities in northern Italy were identified as the centres of the two main Italian clusters and placed under quarantine. The majority of positive cases in other regions traced back to these two clusters. On 8 March 2020, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte expanded the quarantine to all of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces, and on the following day to all of Italy, placing more than 60 million people in quarantine.
On 11 March 2020, Conte prohibited nearly all commercial activity except for supermarkets and pharmacies. On 21 March, the Italian government closed all non-essential businesses and industries, and restricted movement of people.
As of 9 July 2020, Italy has 14,642 active cases; during the peak of the pandemic, Italy’s number of active cases was one of the highest in the world. Overall there have been 242,149 confirmed cases and 34,914 deaths (a rate of 578 deaths per million populations); while there have been 193,640 recoveries or dismissals. By 9 July, Italy had tested about 3,463,000 people. Due to the limited number of tests performed, the real number of infected people in Italy, as in other countries, is estimated to be higher than the official count.
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