Crisis Continues to Worsen

Over the past week, the U.S. surpassed 4 million covid infections, more than 25% of the world's total, despite having only 4.3% of the world's population. We are also on track to surpass 150,000 deaths by the end of the day. These grim milestones can be blamed on oligarchy's relentless drive to force people back to work under unsafe conditions and their unwillingness to provide any financial relief to the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, as well as Donald Trump's continual lies about safety, the science of covid, and his undermining of the scientific experts.

There are now 12 states in the Critical Red zone (>25 new daily infections per 100,000 residents), with California poised to join this rogue's gallery soon, and 23 in the orange. According to Harvard's Path to Zero website, regions in the Red need to implement immediate lock downs, and those in the Orange are strongly recommended to do so, both to bring down cases to a manageable level and not overwhelm hospitals, but also to reach the Green zone, where an opening of the economy can be more effectively monitored and controlled. This means that 70% of the country needs to immediately lock down (compared with 64% just 5 days ago). Indeed, health experts have been saying for days that the entire country needs to shut down.

California, which once led the nation in caution, now has had more covid cases than any other state, including New York. 71% of its counties are now in the Critical Red or Dangerous Orange zones and require immediate lock down.

It is clear from the map that U.S. and South America are the hardest hit regions of the world, but the WHO just announced on Friday that Europe's premature lifting of restrictions is driving a resurgence of infections there. Eastern Europe has been particularly hard hit, with record or near record daily infections in Romania and Ukraine, and 5,000 or more daily infections in Russia.