April 16, 2020 – This week, the world added more new cases in a seven-day period than at any other time since the onset of the pandemic, breaching the 5 million count for the first time with 5,218,112 new cases reported globally -- of which 2,491,174 were counted in the last three days -- and 80,951 new related deaths were counted since Friday last week. Thursday’s daily report was just 165 new infections below the global single-day record reached on January 8, 2021, at the height of the last worldwide flare: only 16 weeks separate the two global peaks. India and Brazil are the current epicenters of the global flare, although many other countries have set new records in the last seven days: India, Brazil, Iran, Argentina, Turkey, Germany, Peru, even our northern neighbors in Canada. Japan, Ecuador, and Columbia are also seeing sharp rises in their daily cases. As we have observed many times over the last 16 months, flares are always followed by sharp rises in fatalities, which will undoubtedly and substantially add to the already high global covid-19 fatality report that topped three million earlier this week, as the global total of reported cases reached above 140 million infections since the new coronavirus was reported in late December 2019. The situation in India is particularly alarming with stories of three patients to one single bed, as Reuters reported earlier this week; yesterday, 24,000 new single-day cases were recorded in India’s capital New Delhi. India, a vaccine exporter for many months, is now a vaccine importer, which gravely affects the many African and Asian nations that have depended on India’s vaccines, the global leader in vaccine manufacturing, for their local pandemic mitigation efforts. Our planet has entered an exceedingly difficult period of unbridled viral spread, the ramifications of which are being reported on an hourly basis.

Global deaths were up 9%, with new cases up 17% since last Friday. 5,218,112 new covid-19 infections were confirmed worldwide, while the virus and its variants killed 80,951 people globally in the last seven days, the highest weekly global death toll since the first week of February.

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India COVID-19 data

As indicated in the pie charts below, the top five most infected countries account for half of the global cases and 44% of the deaths, while only representing 27% of the world’s population. 

This week confirmed the upward trend in new cases started about a month ago, with a sharper increase (6.2%) from last week’s (2.6%). For the first time in months, one state set a record of new cases; after a stunning 29% growth last week, Michigan reported 10,277 new single-day cases on Tuesday, breaching the 10,000 mark since mid-November 2020. This week’s new cases growth in Michigan was more modest (+3%), with a total of 54,759 new cases since Friday a week ago. Other states are contributing to this week’s national trend: North Carolina, (+28%), Georgia (+22%), Washington (+19%), Indiana (+17%), California (+13%), Pennsylvania (+10%), Colorado (+9%), Florida (+8%), Illinois (+6%), Ohio (+5%), Minnesota (+5%), Maryland (+5%), Virginia (+3%), but New York (-17%) and Massachusetts (-8%) have improve their numbers this week. The national daily average of new cases over the last week, that is now up to 72,449 new cases, was down to 55,671 only four weeks ago. The fatality report is -6% from last week, with 5,097 reported covid-19 deaths in the US, a daily average of 728 new deaths. Scientists have paused Johnson & Johnson vaccinations as 7 cases of associated blot clotting, have been reported after having vaccinated almost 8 million US residents. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are still being distributed nationwide and anyone older than 16 can now get vaccinated anywhere in the nation.

Michigan COVID-19 data

COVID-19 in the USA

This week, California's 20,960 new coronavirus infections total significantly reversed the recent downward trend with a +13% hike in new cases (+2,473), however, fatalities are still inching down (-4%), with 641 deaths counted since last Saturday in the entire state of California, compared to the previous week's 671 total (-30). Mass vaccinations in California are accelerating and now available to all aged 16 and older. 24 million Californians have received at least one shot.

4/16/2021: Reporting 20 new cases from the public bringing the total number of reported cases to 16,156.

Of the 16,156:

Including its prison population, over the last 7 days, Madera County is averaging 18 new cases per day (11.3 per 100K population), with 127 new cases revealed over the last 7 days (+42 week-to-week), and 9.5 new cases per 100K over the last 14 days, probably leading us back into the purple highly contagious tier.

Today, the seven local counties together reported 284 new infections and 10 new coronavirus deaths. In the combined 7 counties, COVID-19 has infected 328,104 people and has killed 4,731 residents of our region since it claimed its first central valley victim, in Madera, on March 26, 2020.

Vaccinations are now available in Madera County for anyone above 16 years of age. The Madera County Public Health Department is also making the shots available without appointments in drive-through vaccination clinics. Visit the MCPHD Facebook page for details.

For the last seven days, new infections totals reported in the seven local counties were flat week-to-week: 1,702 a week ago, 1,703 this week. This week's fatality report was also down to 42, the lowest total since Thanksgiving 2020. 55% (2,611) of the total 4,731 covid-19 deaths, and 34% (110,117) of the total 328,104 infections recorded in the local counties have occurred since January 1, 2021.

Keep observing the simple yet proven safety habits of physical-distancing, mask-wearing, and frequent hand-washing, that will help drive down new infections and new deaths, 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 massively administered a safe and effective covid-19 vaccine -- currently estimated by vaccinating up to 85% of the population -- to finally reach herd immunity.