Good evening,

July 24, 2020 -- This is the third day with a new global record of confirmed COVID-19 infections reported in a single day. Third ranked India and fifth ranked South Africa both set new records of new cases, while the United States and Brazil both reported their second highest numbers for the day. Peru and Mexico also reported high numbers and increased positivity rates confirming their spread is nowhere close to being tamed. France and Spain are now releasing 4-digit daily reports and are most likely about to reissue lock down orders. COVID-19 is unevenly devastating our global population; with a few countries showing real progress and even close to eradication (South Korea, New Zealand), but I am particularly worried about India and its people. India has been posting staggering pandemic data, every single day for over a month, with constant growth, no less than 10,000 new daily cases since the first week of June, and no sign of control of their COVID-19 spread. Next week, India will most likely release daily numbers above 50,000 new infections, as the US and Brazil have been doing, but India's numbers will keep climbing thereafter. Back in March and April, the country initially locked down hard to give its national health ministry time to rapidly build medical capacity: doubling their 100,000 hospital beds for existing hospitals and field hospitals, as well as building 100,000 more beds to be used on trains, for swift transfers of medical resources through the country's vast railroad system. I fear India will soon become the world's epicenter of the pandemic, with raging numbers that may even dwarf the US and Brazil's disasters, because India's curve is almost a straight line up, continually boosted by rising positivity rates. The death toll will be enormous and, I suspect, is already under reported.

*:incomplete data set

Tip: click on any of the graphs for larger and clearer images and click on READ MORE to view the complete articles.



Note: Please forgive the occasional typos. I write these reports at the end of the work day and I have seen them creep in, undetected by my tired evening eyes. I hope they do not bother you as much as they annoy me.

Today COVID-19 killed 1,127 more Americans!

Georgia reported its highest number of infections confirmed in one single day while most US states reported near record numbers, ending the nation's workweek just shy of its 24 hour record established 9 days ago. The top five states now rank as follows:

To stop this pandemic, we need to implement a national strategy similar to the ones that have successfully bent the curve in Europe and Asia. Until then, we all can do our part following the simple mitigating habits: wear a mask, practice physical distancing, stay at home if you can, wash your hands, clean frequently used surfaces, respect others and help us all crush the curve.

The Madera County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update:

7/24 COVID-19 Update: Reporting 31 new cases for 7/23 bringing the total number of reported cases to 1,630. 

Today, the seven combined counties reported 2,015 new cases and 17 new deaths in our area of the California Central Valley. The seven counties reported 11,960 new cases for the last seven days, which is 7,029 (+243%) more cases than were reported last week and 221% more than the highest weekly report from the previous week. Even without Kern county's over-sized number of new cases for the week (+6,127), the other 6 counties would have still topped any previous weekly report. All the local counties are on the state's watch list.

Madera + 6 local counties

7 counties together