Revisiting the Numbers: The COVID-19 Death Toll

The death rate in the U.S. still is high, and South and Central America are suffering now.

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Respiratory therapist Casey White prepares to attend to a patient suffering from the coronavirus in the ICU at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, Calif., May 12, 2020.

Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Two months ago, I looked at the per capita COVID-19 death rates around America and the globe, and what we might learn from them. Let’s revisit what has happened between May 21 and July 20. You may be surprised by what the data show.

While there are no foolproof forms of data due to a variety of issues with standards for collecting and classifying information, deaths are the ultimate bottom line and less susceptible to the vagaries of testing regimes. Preventing deaths is the paramount goal of our health-care system. I’m using the same source here, the COVID-19 Dashboard from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Note that some of the reported deaths here may be people who died before May 21 but were only recorded later.

Dan McLaughlin

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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