A few newsworthy topics of the day before COVID-19.- In Apalachee High School, around an hour outside of Atlanta, 14-year old Colt Gray (photo was taken in 2022), yesterday killed four and injured 9 with an AR rifle. Why? To come. Political advantage? To Harris/Walz.
Ceasefire and hostage return in the Gaza Strip? Two problems. Netanyahu and the Hamas. When will Iran take revenge? Political advantage to Trump/Vance.
The Department of Justice indicted two Russians accused of attempting to influence the November 5 election against Harris/Walz. This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Of course, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva are in Russia and can't be arrested. Advantage to Harris/Walz.
- Barron Trump enrolled this week at New York University. Where will he live? Advantage to Trump/Vance.
- Guess who will be in Kansas City for the opening NFL game at 8:20 EDT tonight? Taylor Swift. Her Eras Tour resumes at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on October 18. She became a billionaire last year. Travis Kelce is getting close to $100 million. Swift doesn't like Donald Trump. Advantage to Harris/Walz.
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So on to COVID-19, using Worldometer data:
- Since the beginning of the pandemic, the USA has had the most COVID-19 cases in the world.
- #1 USA 111,820,082
- #2 India 45,035,393
- #3 France 40,138,560
- #7 Japan 33,803,572
- #15 Taiwan 10,128,845
- #41 Singapore 3,006,155
- #92 China 503,302
- #227 Diamond Princess 712
- However, the number of COVID-19 cases/million population:
- #1 Brunei 771,655
- #2 San Marino 768,226
- #3 Faeroe Islands 703,959
- #4 S. Korea 673,523
- #10 France 612,013
- #58 USA 333,985
- Diamond Princess 191,862
- #77 Japan 74,695
- #103 Russia 165,454
- #115 Canada 128,843
- World 90,413
- #143 Thailand 68,069
- #163 India 32,016
- #228 China 347
- Deaths/million population.
- #1 Peru 6,595
- #2 Bulgaria 5,661
- #3 Hungary 5,106
- #11 San Marino 3,755
- #14 USA 3,642
- Diamond Princess 3,503
- #32 Russia 2,762
- #51 Germany 2,182
- #79 Canada 1,538
- World 866
- #114 Taiwan 796
- #129 Japan 595
- #145 India 379
- #221 China 4
- Do you really think India and, especially China, truly had numbers that low? Clearly, they did not report all their cases and deaths.
- During the past week, number of new cases.
- World 45,737
- #1 Russia 19,954
- #2 USA 15,599
- #3 Australia 4,992
- Many countries have stopped counting.
- The USA only had 147 new flu cases this past week. This weekly figure was 23,360 in December 2023. In other words, this COVID-19 infection rate today is about the same as the flu during its season peak. The COVID-19 virus is still around us. Be careful.
- Deaths during the past week.
- World 363
- #1 USA 173
- #2 Russia 69
- #3 Germany 54
In the three years since, COVID-19 has killed more than 7.3 million people worldwide, including more than one million people in the United States, 800,000 in Russia, 690,000 in Brazil, and 530,000 in India. These tallies could substantially underestimate COVID-19's true death toll. In fact, some estimates suggest the total number of deaths could be more than two times as large as reported globally—nearly eighteen million deaths—and more than ten times greater than reported in some countries. After accounting for unreported deaths, the total toll could be as high as the third leading cause of death, responsible for an estimated 17.9 million deaths, or one out of every ten deaths.
Region Reported Deaths Est. Total Deaths Factor
African 173,000 1,860,000 10.75
Eastern Mediterranean 800,000 5,030,000 6.3
Southeast Asia 2,600,000 3,820,000 1.5
European 3,030,000 4,280,000 1.4
North and South America 349,000 2,130,000 6.1
Western Pacific 300,000 760,000 2.5
Cause Deaths (millions) % of All Deaths
- Heart 27.4 14.6%
- Stroke 19.7 10.5%
- COVID-19 17.9 9.5%
- Pulmonary 7.5 5.2%
- Respiratory 7.3 4.0%
- There were 3.09 million deaths in the U.S. in 2023.
- #1 was heart disease, #2 cancer, #3 unintentional injury, #4 stroke, #5 lower respiratory, #6 Alzheimer's disease, #7 diabetes, #8 kidney disease, #9 Liver disease and #10 COVID-19.
- What is unintentional injury?
Injuries and violence affect everyone, regardless of age, race, or economic status. In the first half of life, more Americans die from injuries and violence — such as motor vehicle crashes, suicide, or homicides — than from any other cause, including cancer, HIV, or the flu. This makes injury the leading cause of death among persons aged 1-44.
- Well, that might be misleading, for in 2022, from ages 1-44, deaths:
- 87,600 from unintentional injury.
- 23,400 from suicide.
- 18,600 from homicide
- 17,300 from cancer.
- 17,200 from heart disease.
- So to be more specific:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines unintentional injury as “the physical damage that results when a human body is suddenly subjected to energy in amounts that exceed the threshold of physiologic tolerance-or else the result of a lack of one or more vital elements, such as oxygen”.
A closer look at suicide in the U.S.
- About three times more male suicides vs women.
- By age:
- World suicide rate (per 100,000 residents):
- #1 Lesotho 87.5
- #2 Guyana 40.9
- #3 Eswatini 40.5
- #8 South Africa 23.5
- #11 Russia 21.6
- #12 S. Korea 21.2
- #31 USA 14.5
- #49 Japan 12.2
- World 9.0
- #119 UK 6.9
- #121 China 6.7
- #174 Turkey 2.3
- Similar to the U.S., three times more males than females commit suicide in the World.
- By the way, here are some facts about Lesotho.
- A landlocked country within South Africa.
- Largely located a high altitude, the tallest peak in the region
- Population of 2 million.
- Was a crown colony of the British Empire from 1884 to 1966, when it achieved independence.
- Huge socio-economic problems.
- But has a high rate of literacy (81%) in Africa.
- An electoral democracy.
- Sells electricity to South Africa and produces diamonds. The Lesotho Legend was found in 2018, 910 carats and sold for $40 million.
- 95% Christian, half Catholic.
- 3.4% of population uses the internet.
- Life expectancy only at 53, partly because the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS is 23% between age 15 and 49, second highest in the world. Highest incidence of tuberculosis in the world.
- Highest rape rate of any country, with 61% of females experiencing sexual violence.
- In the film Black Panther, Wakanda was inspired by Lesotho.
- Suicide rate highest in the world, and ten times the average. Why is complicated.
- Statistics can be adjustable, so here is another suicide comparison, again per 100,000 residents.
- #1 Greenland 53.3
- #2 South Korea 26.0
- #3 Guyana 25.5
- #4 Kazakstan 23.8
- #5 Uruguay 23.3
- #8 Taiwan 20.1
- #9 Lithuania 18.6
- #14 Japan 16.5
- #19 USA 14.5
- #50 China 9.8
- #77 Turkey 4.1
- #111 Nepal 0 (also Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and Haiti)
- 17,604 patients were studied over a 3-year trial period.
- They all had pre-existing cardiovascular disease and were overweight or obese, but did not have diabetes.
- Wegovy had been previously approved for use as a heart disease prevention medication earlier this year, reducing the risk of heart problems by 20%.
- Obesity drugs currently cost $6 billion annually. By 2030, growth is expected to reach as much as $144 billion.
- Speculation is that 9% of the population will by 2035 be taking these drugs. Currently, less than 2%.
- Both Wegovy and Ozempic need to be taken by self-injection, a process that is difficult for many.
The cash price that drug companies are charging for Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound in the U.S. ranges from $1,200 to $1,400 per month, according to GoodRx. That’s far higher than patients pay in Europe, where monthly doses cost about $100. And recent research from experts at the Yale School of Medicine estimated that pharmaceutical companies could produce the drugs for as little as 75 cents per person for four monthly doses.
- One problem is that you will need to take a weight loss drug for the rest of your life.
- However, the future of these heart / weight-loss drugs will be pills and nasal sprays. And there are signs that better ones will be available soon.
- In fact, Qzymia, a pill, was approved as a weight-loss drug in 2012. So was Belviq in 2013. And the monthly costs are one-tenth the injected versions. Apparently, they work. So why aren't more taking this option? I have managed to control my weight by diet and exercise, so haven't really looked into this, and other, options.
- Harvard did a review in 2018 of those two, plus Contrave and Saxenda. People seemed disappointed with how long they needed to take these drugs. Plus, some of these pills have had too many side effects.
- This USA Today article answers a lot of questions.
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