U.S. COVID Cases Officially Top 100 Million

The United States has officially topped 100 million COVID-19 cases. According to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, there have been 100,003,814 COVID cases resulting in 1,088,236 deaths representing a mortality rate of 1.1%. 

We have more than twice as many cases as India which is currently approaching 45 million cases (44,677,422). There have been more than 45 million COVID cases in the U.S. alone since the start of 2022. In May 2021, I thought there was a chance India could supplant the United States in terms of most COVID cases. Alas we are in class all our own.

Of course, I am well aware that we have significantly more than 100 million COVID cases. It could be as many as half of all American adults. 

The best we can do is manage COVID just like we manage everything else which might not be saying much. As of December 18th, COVID hospitalizations are nearing 35,000 (34,287) according to Our World in Data. Chances are we won't climb over 100,000 hospitalizations much less the 150,000 which was reached at the beginning of this year. Though I wonder how many Americans will heed recommendations to wear masks indoors amid COVID, the flu and RSV (a.k.a. the tripledemic). We seem very determined to learn the hard way assuming we are determined to learn at all.

In spite of ourselves, we do have vaccines and therapeutics at our disposal which have slowed hospitalizations and deaths. If we've got it then let's use it.