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International Medical Corps COVID-19 Situation Report #27, October 21, 2020

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FAST FACTS

  • According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which consolidates data from a range of sources, as of October 21, there have been 40,886,174 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in 188 countries and regions.

  • In the US, we are supporting 38 hospitals across the country— including in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Puerto Rico and Texas— with a range of services and equipment, including emergency medical field units, supplies and volunteer staff.

  • We have screened more than 2.1 million people for COVID-19 at our global missions and have distributed more than 17.9 million pieces of personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control items to supported health facilities.

  • We have trained more than 18,000 frontline healthcare professionals on COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

Worldwide, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has grown to more than 40 million, and the number of deaths has increased to more than 1.1 million. The number of new daily cases throughout the world continues to grow, with the last week averaging nearly 375,000 cases per day, along with more than 5,000 deaths per day.

The United States is currently experiencing a third peak in COVID-19 cases. Thus far, there is no sign that the growth in new cases is slowing. Each of the three peaks in COVID-19 cases in the United States has primarily been associated with different regions of the country. The first peak was principally located in New York and New Jersey; the second peak was driven by outbreaks in Florida, Texas, California and Arizona; and the third peak is occurring throughout more rural states in the Midwest and west of the country. The United States currently sits at approximately 60,000 new confirmed cases and 750 deaths per day. As cases surge in more than 35 states, Dr. Anthony Fauci has suggested that Americans consider canceling holiday social gatherings. The warning from the infectious disease specialist comes as small household gatherings have been driving the uptick in cases, especially among individuals in their 20s and 30s.

Europe is also going through an explosion of new cases across the continent. Countries throughout the region are seeing high numbers, with some experiencing confirmed new cases at a rate not yet seen on the continent. Thus far, in this second wave, most governments have avoided national-level lockdowns, in an attempt to limit the burden put on the economy by imposing broad restrictions on movement and business. Instead, most have turned to a regional approach to slowing the spread of the virus. France has rolled out curfews in numerous cities and has limited the number of people who can gather in homes. Spain has imposed local lockdowns of varying degrees in multiple regions, including Catalonia and Madrid. The Netherlands has mandated a lockdown in which all restaurants, bars and cafes can serve only takeout orders, and all alcohol sales and public consumption is banned after 8:00 p.m. Germany has also imposed at least one local lockdown, with schools, nurseries, and restaurants forced to close for two weeks in Berchtesgaden. Italy has mandated indoors and outdoors mask-wearing, and has given mayors the power to close public spaces after 9:00 p.m. Ireland has imposed a partial national lockdown in which indoor social gatherings are banned, while outdoor gatherings are limited to two households and must be held no more than three miles from the homes of those gathering.