US becomes first country in world to officially hit 100MILLION Covid cases — amid reports China suffered 250m last month alone
- Latest data show cumulative US cases hit nine figures on December 21
- India has the second-highest infection count – but far lower at 44million
- Raw case number does not account for population – which would make US 58th
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America has become the first country to officially reach the milestone of 100million Covid infections – in what is likely a vast underestimate.
The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that cumulative US cases hit nine figures on December 21.
India has the second-highest infection count at just 44million, according to the research database OurWorldInData, followed by France at 39million.
But the raw number of cases does not account for population size. When that is factored in, the US ranks just 58th worldwide.
The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that cumulative US cases hit nine figures on December 21. India has the second-highest infection count at just 44million, according to the research database OurWorldInData , followed by France at 39million
But the raw number of cases does not account for population size. When that is factored in, the US ranks just 58th worldwide
Comparing Covid cases between countries is difficult because of the different testing and data collection approaches.
Only China has carried out more tests than the US — around 9 billion and 900 million, respectively.
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But Beijing and places like Russia have been accused of suppressing case numbers to mask the fact that authoritarian regimes have struggled to contain outbreaks.
Up to 250million people caught Covid in the first 20 days of December in China, after the country abruptly U-turned on its controversial zero Covid policy.
Dr John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, said the US hitting 100million cases was a significant moment.
But he added it was likely a severe undercount because of the huge swathes of Americans who do not test or who are asymptomatic.
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Dr Brownstein told ABC: ‘Obviously it’s a milestone that signifies the sheer amount of transmission that has occurred around this virus and the population burden that we have faced.
‘At the same time, we recognize that reported cases are absolutely a massive undercount — at the beginning of the pandemic where testing was nonexistent to the shift to home testing where a significant proportion of cases has gone unreported.
‘I think we know that a large majority of the population has already been infected with COVID,’ Brownstein said. ‘And so, this number only represents a fraction of all the cases. [The milestone] was very likely hit many months ago.’
The US’ official case number, 100.7m, indicates that around one in three Americans have had the virus at least once.
Yet a CDC study from April 2022 estimated that 60 percent of the country had been infected with the virus. The official case count does not distinguish between repeated infections.
The 100m case mark comes as pandemic policies begin to creep back into daily life in America.
Hundreds of thousands of students across the US will be forced to wear them in class when schools go back today, as controversial mandates make a return.
Cumulative US Covid cases hit 100million on December 21 – making America the first country to surpass nine figures
The raw number does not factor in population size and is riddled with caveats – such as the US doing far more testing than most countries in the world. Here, the graph shows how the US has tamed its outbreak
Despite Covid infection rates plateauing for months, elementary and high schools in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have made face coverings a condition of entry for students returning from the holidays.
Education officials claim the policy is to prevent a boom in respiratory illnesses after increased mixing during the first normal Christmas and New Year in years.
But there is little evidence that face masks actually reduce infection rates, and mounting research shows the mandates stunted children’s social development and education, and robbed them of vital immunity to other seasonal bugs like flu and RSV.
The government also announced last week that all passengers from China would be tested upon entry, despite no proof that policy works either.
COVID CASES AROUND THE WORLD (RAW NUMBER VS PER MILLION POPULATION)
- United States 100,759,251
- India 44,680,180
- France 39,373,160
- Germany 37,410,650
- Brazil 36,362,366
- Japan 29,397,865
- South Korea 29,220,591
- Italy 25,143,705
- United Kingdom 24,135,084
- Russia 21,499,362
- Turkey 17,042,722
- Spain 13,684,258
- Vietnam 11,525,336
- Australia 11,132,933
- Argentina 9,963,697
- Taiwan 8,889,346
- Netherlands 8,580,083
- Iran 7,561,309
- Mexico 7,234,467
- Indonesia 6,720,443
- Poland 6,368,749
- Colombia 6,336,660
- Austria 5,709,405
- Ukraine 5,662,807
- Portugal 5,554,058
- Greece 5,548,487
- Chile 5,044,258
- Malaysia 5,027,457
- Israel 4,765,806
- Thailand 4,723,919
- Belgium 4,668,248
- Czechia 4,580,077
- Canada 4,506,199
- Peru 4,460,100
- Switzerland 4,399,516
- Philippines 4,065,173
- South Africa 4,049,366
- Denmark 3,385,836
- Romania 3,312,085
- Sweden 2,674,862
- Hong Kong 2,669,224
- Slovakia 2,657,398
- Iraq 2,465,390
- Serbia 2,447,387
- Singapore 2,203,146
- Hungary 2,185,816
- New Zealand 2,094,899
- Bangladesh 2,037,156
- China 1,909,905
- Georgia 1,808,820
- Cyprus 704,359
- San Marino 687,919
- Faeroe Islands 652,484
- Austria 638,663
- Gibraltar 620,467
- Slovenia 617,010
- Andorra 598,061
- Brunei 594,249
- France 580,614
- Denmark 575,601
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon 569,074
- South Korea 563,932
- Iceland 557,716
- Portugal 540,759
- Liechtenstein 540,617
- Greece 534,280
- Latvia 526,325
- Falkland Islands 507,761
- Israel 504,371
- Switzerland 503,350
- Netherlands 488,503
- Georgia 483,075
- Luxembourg 481,386
- Bahrain 474,685
- Slovakia 470,881
- Seychelles 470,014
- Lithuania 468,529
- Estonia 461,434
- Cayman Islands 457,961
- Montenegro 454,159
- Isle of Man 449,618
- Germany 448,731
- Monaco 437,039
- Czechia 436,448
- Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba 433,092
- Italy 425,894
- Australia 425,288
- Aruba 410,975
- New Zealand 404,008
- Saint Helena 401,037
- Belgium 400,504
- Singapore 390,835
- Cook Islands 375,117
- Barbados 374,637
- Marshall Islands 373,957
- Taiwan 372,042
- Nauru 364,116
- United Kingdom 357,509
- Hong Kong 356,426
- Serbia 356,162
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