Tuesday, August 04, 2020

Day 186: Fear Itself

The world's case count is now 18.666 million. Bolivia has surpassed Sweden on its way to the China point. In Portugal, all-cause mortality was up 26% this July over last July, hitting a 12-year high. However, only 1.5% of those deaths were due to coronavirus; the rest appear to be due to a mix of extreme heat, postponement of care (by the providers), and patients' fear of seeking care.

Massachusetts cases are up almost half a percentage point today. Despite our big leap in case count (546, with 9 deaths), Pennsylvania was even more infected today and has now taken over our #11 spot, pushing us to #12.

Germ Boat #31 is the m/s Paul Gauguin, currently docked in Tahiti with plague aboard. The flagship of a one-boat cruise line out of Tahiti, it only began taking on international passengers again on July 29th, and scurried back to port soon after when a crewmember was found to be infected.

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