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

December 30, 2020 -- Today's 15,123 record-setting global daily death toll is well above the 10,661 daily average over the last seven days. The world has added 4,006,062 new cases in the last week, with a daily average of 572,295 new positive tests. Today, covid-19 killed one person every 5.71 seconds.

On Monday, Russian officials admitted that it had been underreporting its covid-19 fatalities. The Rosstat statistics agency said that 229,700 more deaths had been reported compared to the previous year. “More than 81% of this increase in mortality over this period is due to Covid,” said the deputy prime minister, Tatiana Golikova, meaning that more than 186,000 Russians have died from Covid-19.

The long path to the end of the pandemic is opening up before us. Its ultimate goal is finally visible, although still far in the horizon, the global victory over the deadly virus will require yet more patience than we probably wish to offer at this moment. A few vaccines are here, and more are coming online, but they are meaningless to anyone until the jabs have been administered. Until a vast majority of the global population has been immunized, we will need to keep altering our daily lives and practice the mitigation measures we are growing tired of following in this seemingly never-ending nightmare. Here's hoping we are now beyond the halfway point. Best wishes to you and yours in 2021!

COVID-19 in the world today:

  • COVID-19 Global cases: 83,055,202 (+728,653)
  • COVID-19 Global deaths: 1,811,358 (+15,123) peak
  • COVID-19 Global death rate: 2.18%
  • COVID-19 Global testing*: 1,218,916,318 confirmed tests (+5,864,637)
  • COVID-19 Global positivity rate: 6.81%
  • COVID-19 Global single-day positivity rate: 12.26%

*: incomplete data set.
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.
25 DAYS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: HOW COVID-19 SLIPPED CHINA’S GRASP | nytimes.com
Beijing acted against the coronavirus with stunning force, as its official narratives recount. But not before a political logjam had allowed a local outbreak to kindle a global pandemic.

The most famous doctor in China was on an urgent mission.

Celebrated as the hero who helped uncover the SARS epidemic 17 years ago, Dr. Zhong Nanshan, now 84, was under orders to rush to Wuhan, a city in central China, and investigate a strange new coronavirus. His assistant photographed the doctor on the night train, eyes closed in thought, an image that would later rocket around China and burnish Dr. Zhong’s reputation as the nation’s medic riding to the rescue.

China’s official history now portrays Dr. Zhong’s trip as the cinematic turning point in an ultimately triumphant war against Covid-19, when he discovered the virus was spreading dangerously and sped to Beijing to sound the alarm. Four days later, on Jan. 23, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, sealed off Wuhan.

That lockdown was the first decisive step in saving China. But in a pandemic that has since claimed more than 1.7 million lives, it came too late to prevent the virus from spilling into the rest of the world.

The first alarm had actually sounded 25 days earlier, exactly a year ago, last Dec. 30. Even before then, Chinese doctors and scientists had been pushing for answers, yet officials in Wuhan and Beijing concealed the extent of infections or refused to act on warnings.
Czechia COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 21
  • 701,622 cases (+16,329) peak
  • 11,429 deaths (+59)
  • 3,747,573 tests (+84,139)
  • positivity rate 18.72%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 19.41%
Japan COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 42
  • 226,596 (+3,476)
  • 3,349 deaths (+43)
  • 4,829,069 tests (+26,830)
  • positivity rate 4.69%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 12.96%
Lebanon COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 50
  • 177,996 cases (+2,878) peak
  • 1,456 deaths (+26) peak
  • 1,964,920 tests (+21,700)
  • positivity rate 9.06%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 13.26%
Great Britain COVID-19 data

  • global rank: 6
  • 2,432,888 cases (+50,023)
  • 72,548 deaths (+981)
  • 54,467,027 tests (+348,893)
  • positivity rate 4.47%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 14.34%
In the US
40 states have reported at least 1,000 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours. Today the nation has counted 234,775 new coronavirus infections and covid-19 has killed 3,882 Americans in the last 24 hours, making it the deadliest covid-19 day in America. A record 125,220 covid-19 patients are now hospitalized in the United States, with 23,069 in ICU and 7,930 currently on ventilators. With one day left, December 2020 has already confirmed 6,248,983 new covid-19 infections, killing 76,480 Americans. Let us hope this was the worst month on record and that mass vaccination efforts will soon lead us out of the year-old pandemic.
New York COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 4
  • 998,524 cases (+13,886) peak
  • 37,868 deaths (+193)
  • 25,068,743 tests (+154,949)
  • positivity rate 3.98%
  • 24hr positivity rate 8.96%
North Carolina COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 10
  • 532,830 cases (+8,551) peak
  • 6,729 deaths (+155)
  • 6,832,632 tests (+35,577)
  • positivity rate 7.79%
  • 24hr positivity rate: 24.04%
Louisiana COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 22
  • 311,229 cases (+6,744) peak
  • 7,448 deaths (+51)
  • 4,367,542 tests (+52,109)
  • positivity rate 6.55%
  • 24hr positivity rate 7.12%
Mississippi COVID-19 data

  • national rank: 33
  • 213,055 cases (+3,023) peak
  • 4,747 deaths (+28)
  • 1,730,435 tests N/A
  • positivity rate 12.31%
  • 24hr positivity rate N/A
The US sets daily Covid-19 death record for the second straight day. Another 80,000 could die in the next 3 weeks, a new forecast says | cnn.com
(CNN) As 2020 nears its end, the US still is setting one-day records for Covid-19 deaths and the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals.

More than 3,740 coronavirus deaths were reported Wednesday in the US, the most reported in a single day during the pandemic and the second straight day that record was set, Johns Hopkins University data show.

And the outlook is grim for January. More than 80,000 Americans could die of Covid-19 over the next three weeks, a new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ensemble forecast projects -- offering a stark reminder the nation is still facing challenging times.

The new prediction comes amid ongoing vaccine distributions -- rollout experts say has been slower than they'd hoped. Vaccines will only make any meaningful impact once they're widely available to the public, possibly not until summertime, experts have said.

In the meantime, Covid-19 hospitalizations are soaring. The US set a record Wednesday for the number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals on a given day, at 125,200, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

And many states are reporting alarming trends.
COVID-19 in the USA

  • Cases: 20,217,241 (+234,775)
  • Deaths: 350,780 (+3,882) PEAK
  • Death rate: 1.74%
  • Testing: 251,767,209 individual tests (+1,594,963)
  • Positivity rate 8.03%
  • Single-day positivity date: 14.72%
US top 5 infected states:

  1. California: 2,267,290 COVID-19 cases, 25,387deaths
  2. Texas: 1,759,131 COVID-19 cases, 27,898 deaths
  3. Florida: 1,306,123 COVID-19 cases, 21,550 deaths
  4. New York: 998,524 COVID-19 cases, 37,868 deaths
  5. Illinois: 955,380 COVID-19 cases, 17,811 deaths
In California
It appears California's new infections may have peaked last week, but the state's new deaths peaked on Tuesday with 430 new deaths and 427 more recorded on December 30, 2020. This new year's eve would be best celebrated at home with no visitors.
California reports first case of more contagious COVID-19 strain; more states expected | usatoday.com
SAN DIEGO – California has reported its first case of a more contagious COVID-19 variant first identified in the United Kingdom – the second confirmed case in the U.S.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking in an online conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said the case was confirmed in Southern California Wednesday afternoon. 

During a Wednesday afternoon briefing, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said a 30-year-old man in the county with no travel history tested positive for the new strain on Tuesday.

"Because there is no travel history, we believe this is not an isolated case in San Diego County," Fletcher said. He urged residents to stay at home for New Year's celebrations, citing the region's already strained healthcare system.

On Tuesday, California reported Southern California's Intensive Care Unit availability is 0%.

Colorado reported the first known case of the variant in the U.S. on Tuesday and was investigating a second possible case Wednesday. Both of the cases are National Guard soldiers who were deployed to support staffing at a nursing home in Simla, Colorado, outside Denver, state health officials said.
In the last seven days, California has confirmed 256,477 new covid-19 cases and the disease has killed 1,749 more Californians.

  • COVID-19 California cases: 2,267,290 (+32,525)
  • COVID-19 California deaths: 25,387 (+427)
  • COVID-19 California death rate: 1.12%
  • COVID-19 California testing: 32,623,076 individual tests (+248,605)
  • COVID-19 California positivity rate: 6.95%
  • COVID-19 California single-day positivity rate: 13.08%
In the Central Valley
The Madera County Department of Public Health COVID-19 Update:

12/30/2020: Reporting 44 cases from the public, 1 from Valley State Prison, and 56 from the Central California Woman’s Facility (total 101 cases) bringing the total number of reported cases to 10,273. We also regret to report 1 additional death.
Of the 10,273:
  • 2,726 active case (including 39 Madera County residents hospitalized in Madera County)
  • 7,430 recovered (143 released from isolation)
  • 117 deceased (1 additional)
  1. Male, 70s, underlying conditions
Including its prison population, Madera County is averaging 138 new cases per day (86 per 100K), with 968 new cases revealed over the last 7 days. We need to get down to an average of 11 cases per day or 77 cases over 7 days to switch from purple to red (from "widespread" to "substantial" contagion risk).

Today, the seven local counties together reported 2,835 new infections and 21 new coronavirus deaths. In the combined 7 counties, COVID-19 has infected 212,257 people and has killed 2,038 residents of our region since it claimed its first central valley victim, in Madera, on March 26, 2020.

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: 234 cases (+11), 4 deaths, 11,503 tests, 2.03+%
  • Merced: 19,245 cases (+179), 252 deaths (+4)
  • Madera: 10,273 cases (+101), 117 deaths (+1), 134,009 tests, 7.67+%
  • Fresno: 65,149 cases (875), 646 deaths (12/21 data), 569,878 tests, 11.43+%
  • Tulare: 33,125 cases (+547), 399 deaths (+10)
  • Kings: 15,915 cases (+96), 110 deaths, 208,607 tests, 7.63+%
  • Kern: 68,316 cases (+1,024), 510 deaths (+6), 338,099 tests, 20.21+%

COVID-19 in the 7 counties together

  • 7 counties cases: 212,257 (+2,835)
  • 7 counties deaths: 2,038 (+21)
  • 7 counties death rate: 0.96%
The 7 counties graphs, above and below, represent data from the week ending on Christmas day, last Friday. The data set needed for the report was not fully available until earlier this week, and I expect similar delays for this last week of the year. Last week was the deadliest in our valley, with 145 new recorded deaths in the seven counties. The new infections count was almost as high as the previous weekly tally with 23,295 reported new cases. As I write this report, Fresno County has not issued a death report since December 23rd, based on December 21 data.
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.
From our hearts to yours,

Fredo and Renee Martin
Workingarts Marketing, Inc.

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