Our Response to COVID-19: Information
Globally
Good evening,

September 4, 2020 -- COVID-19 roared through the world today and broke the new cases record, ending Friday with 317,180 new coronavirus patients -- for the first time confirming over 300,000 new global COVID-19 infections in a 24-hour period. For the world to reach that huge single-day number, many countries reported staggering updates, including new peaks in India -- which passed the 4 million mark, closing in on Brazil --, France, Iraq, Ukraine, and large numbers from Indonesia, Romania, Kuwait, Spain, Argentina, and a spike and troubling trend from initially badly battered Italy. I have altered the graphs below with a dotted line for India to extract its data in a visually compelling manner, underscoring the aggressiveness of the spread and rising fatalities in the large Asian country. Second-ranked Brazil reported 45,651 new infections today, while the top-ranked United States published its highest report in three weeks (+51,802) partly because Illinois caught up on previously unpublished test results, which gave the Prairie State its newest peak, although Illinois was not the only state adding a new apex to its epidemiological curve: Wisconsin and Arkansas reported their highest numbers while Iowa, South Carolina, and Kansas are trending high.

  • COVID-19 Global cases: 26,781,274 (+317,180)
  • COVID-19 Global deaths: 878,672 (+5,651)
  • COVID-19 Global death rate: 3.28%
  • COVID-19 Global testing: 531,524,511 confirmed tests (+4,910,630)
  • COVID-19 Global positivity rate: 5.04%
  • COVID-19 Global single-day positivity rate: 5.92%

*:incomplete data set - please note the global testing number is up to 160 million tests (from 90,410,000 published in late June). For obvious reasons, I have not used that difference to calculate the positivity rates.
Tip: click on any of the graphs for larger and clearer images and click on READ MORE to view the complete articles.Also, please forgive the occasional typos.
India COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 3
  • 4,020,239 cases (+87,115) PEAK
  • 69,635 deaths (+1,066)
  • 46,679,145 tests (+1,169,765)
  • positivity rate 8.61%
France COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 16
  • 309,156 cases (+8,975) PEAK
  • 30,724 deaths (+18)
  • 8,500,000 tests (+1,000,000)
  • positivity rate 4.2%
Iraq COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 20
  • 252,075 cases (+5,036) PEAK
  • 7,349 deaths (+74)
  • 1,693,512 tests (+23,029)
  • positivity rate 14.98%
Ukraine COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 25
  • 130,951 cases (+2,723) PEAK
  • 2,761 deaths (+31)
  • 1,621,697 tests (+23,990)
  • positivity rate 8.07%
In the US
The US coronavirus death toll is projected to reach 410,000 in the next 4 months if mask use wanes | cnn.com
(CNN) -- More than 410,000 people in the US could die from the coronavirus by January 1, more than doubling the current death toll, a new model often cited by top health officials predicted Friday.

That would mean 224,000 more lives lost in the US over the next four months.

Near-universal mask use could cut the number of projected additional fatalities by more than half, according to the model from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. But it also warns the cumulative death toll could be much higher by the new year if all restrictions are eased.

"If a herd immunity strategy is pursued, meaning no further government intervention is taken from now to Jan 1st, the death toll could increase to 620,000," according to IHME's briefing.

The death rate could reach nearly 3,000 a day by December, an unprecedented number, due in part to "declining vigilance of the public," the IHME expects. For now, the model points to declining mask use in some regions from peak usage in early August.
COVID-19 in the USA

  • Cases: 6,387,046 (+51,802)
  • Deaths: 192,044 (+986)
  • Death rate: 3.01%
  • Testing: 85,853,170 individual tests (+971,641)
  • Positivity rate: 7.44%
  • Single-day positivity date: 5.33%
Illinois COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 6
  • 247,299 cases (+5,594) PEAK
  • 8,632 deaths (+38)
  • 4,309,941 tests (+149,273)
  • positivity rate 5.74%
Wisconsin COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 23
  • 79,354 cases (+1,498) PEAK
  • 1,153 deaths (+7)
  • 1,289,557 tests (+11,702)
  • positivity rate 6.15%
US top 5 infected states:

  1. California: 730,940 COVID-19 cases, 13,643 deaths
  2. Texas: 661,505 COVID-19 cases, 13,561 deaths
  3. Florida: 640,211 COVID-19 cases, 11,755 deaths
  4. New York: 470,460 COVID-19 cases, 33,065 deaths
  5. Georgia: 279,354 COVID-19 cases, 5,931 deaths
In California
Labor Day weekend sparks fears of new coronavirus outbreaks in California | latimes.com
The next big test of whether Californians can slow the spread of the coronavirus will come this holiday weekend, with officials hoping the public will refrain from the large gatherings and risky behavior that contributed to a spike in COVID-19 infections and deaths after a disastrous Memorial Day weekend.

California spent much of the summer paying the price for a rapid reopening of the economy in late May and early June, with a coronavirus surge from mid-June through the weeks after the Fourth of July that led to record deaths and new concerns about the virus spreading among young people and essential workers.

Now, Labor Day weekend — the final big holiday of the summer — poses new risks as it coincides with the easing of additional COVID-19 restrictions.

Health officials are hoping the shock of the summer will prompt people to play it safe this weekend, in part because so much is riding on keeping numbers down and to prevent history from repeating itself. If infections continue to decline, some classrooms could reopen this fall. There are also hopes that conditions will improve enough by the holiday season to allow for more in-person shopping.

Experts said the challenge facing society is to get beyond the lockdown conditions of spring while still avoiding gatherings that can spread the virus. Many agencies are urging people to stay home through the weekend, but that might be hard for some to do in the waning days of summer — especially with a heat wave bearing down... READ MORE
  • COVID-19 California cases: 730,940 (+4,563)
  • COVID-19 California deaths: 13,643 (+153)
  • COVID-19 California death rate: 1.87%
  • COVID-19 California testing: 11,796,970 individual tests (+133,046)
  • COVID-19 California positivity rate: 6.20%
  • COVID-19 California single-day positivity rate: 3.43%
In the Central Valley
The Madera County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update:

9/4/2020 COVID-19 UPDATE: Reporting 64 new cases bringing the total number of reported cases to 3,953. We also regret to report 1 additional death.
Of the 3,953:

  • 391 active case (including 15 Madera County residents hospitalized in Madera County)
  • 3,504 recovered (55 released from isolation)
  • 58 deceased

1 additional death
  • Male, 70s, underlying conditions

Today, the seven local counties together confirmed 682 new infections and 26 new coronavirus deaths (in Kern, Kings, Madera, and Fresno counties). Our friends and neighbors are needlessly dying, many families are suffering. Science and the courage to follow its logic will solve this pandemic, any other discourse is inadequate.
COVID-19 in Madera + 6 local counties (+% is the positivity rate)

  • Mariposa: 74 cases (+1), 2 deaths, 5,150 tests, 1.44+%
  • Merced: 8,277 cases (+75), 120 deaths, 45,896 tests, 18.03+%
  • Madera: 3,953 cases (+64), 58 deaths (+1), 42,119 tests, 9.39+%
  • Fresno: 25,466 cases (revised), 312 deaths (+22), 216,723 tests, 11.75+%
  • Tulare: 14,677 cases (+125), 243 deaths, est. 112,900 tests, 13.00+%
  • Kings: 6,422 cases (+37), 76 deaths (+1), 60701 tests, 10.58+%
  • Kern: 29,858 cases (+95), 296 deaths (+2), 172,762 tests, 17.28+%

COVID-19 in the 7 counties together

  • 7 counties cases: 88,727 (+682)
  • 7 counties deaths: 1,107 (+26)
  • 7 counties death rate: 1.25%
  • 7 Counties tests: 656,251 (est.)
  • 7 Counties positivity rate: 13.52%
This week the spread of the virus in the California central valley slowed down quite a bit, to its lowest number since the end of spring. Unfortunately, we lost 96 of our neighbors in the last seven days, a number that should also be lower next week if the descending trend of new cases persists. Below you will also find the weekly new cases and new deaths graphs plotted since the onset of the pandemic, followed with graphs of county statistics including cases, deaths, and tests pictured as proportions of each county's total population.
Keep observing the simple yet proven habits of physical-distancing, mask-wearing, and frequent hand-washing, that will help drive down new infections and new deaths numbers, to a level low enough so as to give us a chance to reopen our schools for onsite education and thus, reopen our economy. Nothing else will work until we have a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
From our hearts to yours,

Fredo and Renee Martin
Workingarts Marketing, inc.
+1-559-662-1119

PS: We welcome comments and questions. If you wish to review previous reports, we now host past issues here.