A school bus in New York City
Good afternoon. This is Jonathan Spira, director of research at the Center for Long Covid Research, reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on its 1,471st day.
In news we cover today, a study from the Robert Koch Institut looks at how school bus rides were an efficient means of virus transmission, the first TSA airport worker to test positive did so four years ago today, and almost 20% of the U.S. population has had or currently has Long Covid.
THIS DAY IN COVID HISTORY
As of March 21, 2020, 302 people have died from coronavirus in the United States This includes cases in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
Over 300,000 people have contracted the novel coronavirus and at least 12,944 have died, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
Also on this date, a solder in Fort Carson tested positive for coronavirus, according to a statement from the base, and a Transportation Security Administration clerk working at Dulles International Airport in Virginia tested positive for the coronavirus. The individual has been quarantined and is resting at home, the TSA said in a statement.
The Colorado National Guard soldier was being housed at the Colorado National Guard’s 168th Regional Training Institute at Fort Carson.
LONG COVID
The most recent U.S. Household Pulse Survey shows that 6.8% of adults in the country currently suffer from Long Covid and 17.6% have had or currently have Long Covid.
This translates to 17.5 million adults who currently have Long Covid using 2020 U.S. Census Bureau estimates and 45.4 million people who have had or continue to have Long Covid.
GLOBAL NEWS
A new study prepared by researchers at the Robert Koch Institut, Germany’s public-health institute, investigated a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Germany in 2021 that involved bus-riding students and a rogue bus driver, all in a city near Hesse, who was non-vaccinated and exposed to SARS-CoV-2 but failed to isolate.. A phylogenetically unique strain and epidemiologic analyses provided a link between air travelers and cases among bus company staff, schoolchildren, other bus passengers, and their respective household members, the researchers said.
The study, published this week in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, illustrates the efficient transmission of the virus during multiple short rides on public transport.
GLOBAL STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Thursday, March 21.
As of Thursday, at press time, the world has recorded 704.3 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of .01 million in the last 24 hours, and 7.01 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 675.21 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.01 million in the same period.
The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls as well as the occasional downward or upward adjustment as corrections to case figures warrant.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Thursday at press time is 22,081,375, a decrease of 4,000 in the past 24 hours. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 22,046,214, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 35,161, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past 19 months.
Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has, as of Thursday, recorded 111.7 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.22 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 45.03 million, and the world’s fourth highest death toll, 533,527.
The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July 2022, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.
Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40.14 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.82 million total cases.
Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 710,427, has recorded 38.59 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.
The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are South Korea, with 34.57 million cases, as number six; Japan, with 33.8 million cases placing it in the number seven slot; and Italy, with 26.72 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with 24.9 million, and Russia, with 24.06 million, as nine and ten respectively.
CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE
In the United States, in the week ending March 9, 2024, the test positivity rate was, based on data released on March 15 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 5.2%, and the trend in test positivity is -1.5% in the most recent week. Meanwhile, the percentage of emergency department visits that were diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 was 1%, and the trend in emergency department visits is -24%.
The number of people admitted to hospital in the United States due to SARS-CoV-2 in the same 7-day period was 13,391, a figure that is down 13.5% over the past 7-day period. Meanwhile, the percentage of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 was 2%, a figure that is down 4.8% in the same period.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Thursday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.57 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 7,588 doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 32.7% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.
In addition, with the beginning of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, 2023, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines in any significant number.
Finally, as of March 15, 2024 , only the following countries and territories have not reported any cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections whatsoever:
Antarctica
British Antarctic Territory
Peter Island
Overseas
Bouvet Island
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Prince Edward Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.
The Coronavirus Daily News Brief is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org
If you have Long Covid and need to talk to someone, call the Long Covid Patient Peer Counseling Phone Line, or HOPELINE. The HOPELINE is our free, confidential support and information service.
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