Mapping the worldwide spread of the coronavirus
In less than a year, the novel coronavirus, which first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has left a crisscross trail of carnage nearly everywhere on Earth. For much of the world, a return to normal life remains out of reach.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died from covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The true case and death counts are probably far higher than the confirmed tally, due to the limitations on testing in many nations.
New daily reported cases across the world
At least have been reported since Feb. 29.
[A detailed look at the virus’s spread through U.S. counties and states]
Despite often draining restrictions put in place to fight the spread of the virus, global health officials say the road to recovery may be long. “No country can just pretend the pandemic is over,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in August.
Where the virus is surging
How the U.S. compares to other regions
Some countries have had success with stringent shutdowns. In New Zealand, which closed its borders and ordered people to stay home, confirmed infections went down to zero for a time. Even some of the world’s worst-hit areas have seen reprieves.
Wuhan ground to a standstill in January as the virus spiraled out of control. But after months without a confirmed case of domestic transmission, around 1.4 million children in the city returned to classrooms at the start of September, and crowded events have resumed.
Other places are still struggling. In the United States, where testing efforts faltered early in the outbreak, cases and deaths are slowing in some states but rising in others. The total number of reported cases remains by far the highest in the world.
In September, India overtook Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of confirmed cases, having already surpassed Russia the month before.
Global hot spots for reported cases per capita
7-day rolling average of daily new reported cases per 100,000 residents
Note: Only countries with a population of more than 1 million are shown.
“The only question is whether India is going to catch up with the United States,” Bhramar Mukherjee, a biostatistician at the University of Michigan who developed a model to predict India’s outbreak, told The Washington Post.
In the early months of the outbreak, China reported more cases than any other country. Its tally of new infections peaked in mid-February and approached zero by mid-March, although questions surround the accuracy of its data.
As the disease waned in China, it began to surge in Italy and Spain. By May, more than 150,000 people had died throughout Europe. In June, a cluster of cases in Beijing linked to a large market raised alarm over another major outbreak in the country and prompted another round of shutdowns.
Compare countries by new daily reported cases per 100k
At least have been reported since Feb. 29.
At least have been reported since Feb. 29.
Case and death counts by country
[What you need to know about coronavirus]
In Europe, where some countries regained some sense of normalcy over the summer after a decline in new cases, many saw the virus resurge in late August. France, Germany, Spain and others posted new daily caseloads that had not been seen since April and early May, prompting another wave of virus restrictions. So far the number of deaths has not reached earlier highs.
Some governments are pinning their hopes on a successful vaccine by the end of the year. U.S. public health officials told they may need to distribute a vaccine to health workers as early as Nov. 1. Major trials are underway, but most experts expect a longer wait. On Sept. 4, a WHO spokesman said that the organization did not expect “widespread vaccination” until mid-2021.
