Month: April 2020

As might be expected, due to it’s population size, slow reaction and good reporting, the USA has sadly climbed to the top of two of our tables. They now report the most cases in the world and the most deaths in the world due to Covid19. At the moment, there is no sign of a slowdown so these figure are likely to continue to rise quickly. To date most of the cases have been in and around New York. If and when the virus spreads to the rest of the USA these figures will really escalate.

Italy and Spain are of course 2nd and 3rd in these tables. Interestingly though, Spain is deteriorating at a faster pace than Italy. Finally the situation in Italy may be becoming under control. Spain may be behind Italy in control and impact reduction. Both countries are already talking about loosening up the restrictions on trade and movement. Hopefully this is not too soon.

When You adjust the figures for population, things look decidedly different. The smallest nations with the highest population densities start to fare badly. San Marino looks particularly badly hit. If the figures are accurate, San Marino is showing a 0.1% fatality rate across it’s entire population. 1 in every 1000 people resident in San Marino has died of Corona Virus. Not for a particular demographic but for the entire population.

Of the larger nations, Spain, Italy and Belgium have a poor showing. The USA starts to show at No. 15 on the Deaths per 100k population” list. The likelihood is they will climb this table. The hope is that they will take control of the situation and keep their numbers low.

Data supplied from
https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/covid-19-coronavirus-data/resource/55e8f966-d5c8-438e-85bc-c7a5a26f4863
https://data.gov.ie/dataset

At the time of writing there is only one item on the news. There is only one subject on everyone’s lips; the Corona Virus or COVID19 to use it’s more terrifying moniker. We know that the virus started in a ‘wet market’ in China and has spread rapidly throughout the whole world, helped by a large world population and the prevalence and ease of travel, particularly by air.

The data is changing rapidly day by day and it’s hard to keep up. The initial figure from China looked terrifying, but these figures have been surpassed by other countries in different ways such as Italy, Spain and the United States. Even Iceland has a bad record for one particular metric.

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So the virus started in China and the figures looked bad. But the Chinese authorities reacted quite quickly, if not straight away. The city of Wuhan and it’s province, Hubei, were put into complete lock-down. People had to stay in their homes and were not allowed to travel or socialise or move around. This seems to have the required effect. New COVID19 cases in China have slowed to a trickle and the virus looks like it has been beaten.

Or has it? Depending on who you believe there are still major problems in China. The figures are just not being reported. (Cite. Time Magazine : https://time.com/5813628/china-coronavirus-statistics-wuhan/)

Elsewhere, in non-Communist, multi-party states(many democracies) the policies, restrictions and sometimes lock-downs have been erratic and come in fits and starts. Phrases like ‘lock-downs’, ‘social distancing’ and ‘self-isolation’ have become part of common speech. If you have anyone to speak to that is. There has been much debate about how to react. Restrict all movement? Achieve something called ‘herd immunity’? Close down the economy or keep it running despite the cost in lives. There have been many U-turns and, no doubt, there will be many more.

The aviation and tourism industries have ground to a complete halt. Many shops, restaurants and cafes may not survive the shutdown. Some companies who provide or enable remote working and socialising may benefit.

But it looks like the world will continue to change and may remain irrevocably changed after this virus.

You can find the charts and maps, and interact with them at

http://analytics.richardfitzsimons.ie/sample-apps/corona/

They will be updated on a daily basis as more figures are released.

Data supplied from
https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/covid-19-coronavirus-data/resource/55e8f966-d5c8-438e-85bc-c7a5a26f4863
https://data.gov.ie/dataset