At the other end of the scale, there were 6 States in the “Yellow” range: OR, DE, CO, WV, PA, and MA
There were only 3 in the “Blue” range: CT, NJ, and NY
There were another 3 in the “Green” range: ME, NH, VT
By contrast, how bad is the situation now? Only 4 States would *NOT* be in the “Deep Red” category: VA, ME, VT, and WI, plus DC, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Island. Of those, only Hawaii and the two territorial island chains would be less than “Red”:
It is so bad that nearly 10% of the entire populations of North and South Dakota have already had *confirmed* infections, with several other States not far behind:
They, along with the other hardest hit States, look like they are recklessly heading towards “herd immunity,” probably by the end of the winter, with death rates in excess of 1% of the entire States’ populations by then.
As to deaths, in August most of the States (33) were also in the “Red” or “Orange” categories. 8 States were in the worst, “Deep Red” category: MS, LA, GA, TX, NV, FL, AZ, and SC.
At the other end of the scale, there were only 4 States in the “Yellow” range: KS, HI, CO, and NH
Another 4 were in the “Blue” category: NY, NJ, ME, and CT
One – VT – was “Green.”
By contrast, 16 States are currently in the “Deep Red” category: ND, SC, WI, MT, WY, IL, NM, IA, MN, WV, TN, MI, ID, IN, NE, and MO:
At the other end, Only NY is in the “Yellow” category.
Only HI and VT are in the “Blue” category.
And only the two island territories of the Virgin and Northern Mariana Islands are in the “Green” category:
Keep in mind that deaths follow confirmed infections by 4 weeks or more, so there is every likelihood that many more States are going to move into the “Deep Red” category shortly.
In fact, I could only find 2 States – VA and HI – where currently there is not a big upswing in cases or deaths
All the other States, including NY, ME, and VT, are showing rapidly increasing cases.
Against all of this horrendous failure, the only other “good” news, as was widely reported this morning, is that a 2nd vaccine, with a 94% success rate at preventing infections, and without the necessity for heroic precautions in transport and storage, is on the verge of approval.
Hopefully, the generally responsible States of the Northeast and West Coast will take the necessary heroic steps to keep their populations safe until the vaccine(s) arrive next spring or summer.
Explosive Growth of Virus Is Recorded Across US
The country is nearing 200,000 new cases a day.
Deaths are rising steadily and hospitals are struggling to cope.
The C.D.C. urged Americans to rethink Thanksgiving plans.
California announced a curfew.
Pfizer said it would apply today for emergency authorization of its vaccine.
I look at the data and sense that the fear of this virus simply has diminished remarkably. That might not be wise, but that is the simplest explanation I see that explains this. It is out in the community as are many other diseases and people come to some sense of how best to balance activities and risk. Events like Gavin Newsome’s dinner I do not think show deliberate hypocrisy, just the sense that the risk is worth it because the disease is not a killer in the way Ebola is. Maybe the worst thing that happened was that the mortality was so high at the beginning. That was a human tragedy, but also a kind of benchmark. The benchmark being so severe has influenced the appreciation of the situation ever since.