America's Failed Response to Covid-19

The New Statesman has published a series of interactive maps which dramatically visualizes just how bad the United States has been in responding to Covid-19. The maps show areas in the United States and in European countries where there are 50 cases or more of Covid-19 in a week per 100,000 residents.

The German government has set a threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 residents in a week as the trigger for when regions must enter lockdown. If the same rules were applied to the USA then half of Americans would currently be in lockdown (and America might begin to get a handle on this pandemic). In Italy and France there are currently no regions with more than 50 cases per 100,000 residents. In Germany only the region around Gütersloh has been put in lockdown (after an outbreak at a meat-packing plant). In the UK there are a few regions where there are more the 50 cases per 100,000 residents (these seem to be often related to outbreaks in meat-packing plants or textile sweat-shops).

In the US there are 1,094 regions with more than 50 cases per 100,000 residents. The New Statesman concludes that with the growing number of infections in the U.S. the number of regions are 'about to be a lot more'.

If you want to check the current levels of Covid-19 in your county then you can refer to Harvard's Covid-19 map. The Harvard Global Health Institute's COVID Risk Level map shows the severity of the Covid-19 outbreak at county level across the United States. The map reveals which counties have a green, yellow, orange or red risk level, based on the number of new daily cases. The map also includes guidance as to how county authorities should respond to each of these risk levels.