How you're feeling about the pandemic—whether you're anxious that it's getting worse or feeling a sense of optimism that it's improving—probably has a lot to do with the current trends in your country, state or city. Keeping an eye on the seven or 14-day numbers is certainly a good idea; they're like a weather forecast that can help you make the best decisions on a daily basis. But focusing on whether cases and deaths have been rising or falling in recent days risks forgetting the incalculable toll the outbreak has taken so far. The news this morning—that the world has crossed 5 million COVID-19 deaths—is a grim reminder of that toll.
In terms of total deaths, the United States remains the largest contributor, with about 746,000 overall, followed by Brazil (608,000) and India (458,000). The picture changes when looking at the per capita numbers, which adjust for population: Peru has suffered the greatest loss on that basis, with 607 deaths per 100,000 residents, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina (350) and Bulgaria (345). Those figures also happen to better illustrate the current dynamics of the global outbreak—while the pandemic is ebbing in the U.S., Brazil and India, it's raging on in Eastern Europe, driven largely by lackluster vaccination rates.
Like so many other big numbers associated with the pandemic, it's impossible to wrap your head around the idea of 5 million deaths. It's one of those numbers that all too easily becomes a statistic in a history textbook, something your eyes glaze over before you're able to take a moment to truly process. But process it we must. As we've written here before, each death due to COVID-19—especially now in the late pandemic era, when we have both the knowledge and technology to end uncontrolled spread—is a tragedy, a mother or father or son or daughter or friend or colleague lost forever. What can be done? In part, as many others have written, it's time to make the production know-how behind the vaccines accessible to all—every moment that recipe is kept secret will only lead to more needless death. That step alone could go a long way to ensuring we don't hit 6 million deaths before the virus is under control.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
About 510 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this morning, of which more than 417 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. Nearly 58% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 246.7 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 9:30 a.m. E.T. today, and about 5 million people have died. On Oct. 31, there were 305,970 new cases and 4,407 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 45.9 million coronavirus cases as of 9:30 a.m. E.T. today. More than 745,800 people have died. On Oct. 31, there were 17,599 new cases and 164 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Nov. 1, 9:30 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has tested positive for a breakthrough infection and is experiencing mild symptoms, she said yesterday. Psaki was most recently with U.S. President Joe Biden last Tuesday, and Biden tested negative on Saturday, the White House said. Biden is currently in Glasgow, Scotland for the COP26 climate conference...
...Where the threat of a viral outbreak looms large, as the New York Times reports. The U.K. isn't requiring attendees to be vaccinated, but attendees must show daily proof of a negative test. Moreover, many of the countries with the most to lose from climate change have been the slowest to receive vaccine doses, leading some to skip the conference and thus leaving important voices out of the vital event, where worldwide leaders are wheeling and dealing with an eye towards curbing global temperature rise.
Vaccination rates among New York City workers trickled up over the weekend before today's mandate came into effect, CNN reports. However, it remains unclear how many members of the New York Police Department, New York Fire Department and other city departments remained unvaccinated at the deadline; the NYFD is reportedly preparing for a 20% staffing falloff. Big Apple Mayor Bill de Blasio issued the mandate, which requires city workers to have at least one dose or be placed on unpaid leave, on Oct. 20.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Alex Fitzpatrick and edited by Angela Haupt.
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