American deaths per million equal or exceed Europe’s worst-hit nations in several locales.

click to enlarge

At first glance, the United States appears to have fared reasonably well during this pandemic. So far, 327 Americans have died of the coronavirus out of every one million in the population.

That’s according to official numbers. Which are all we have to work with at the moment. (There are solid reasons why official numbers should be viewed as provisional and inexact. See the bottom of the page here.)

If we compare its overall rate of 327 deaths per million to the hardest hit nations in Europe, America looks blessed. Belgium has experienced 820 deaths per million. Spain and the UK, 580.  Italy, 555.

But peer a bit closer, and another story emerges. America’s number is low because many parts of that country have (so far) been spared a serious outbreak. In places where the virus gained a foothold in the wider community, the death rate exceeds even the worst countries in Europe:

New York state: 1,546

New Jersey: 1,327

Connecticut: 1,114

Massachusetts: 1028

Rhode Island: 691

District of Columbia: 666

Louisiana: 611

Michigan: 556

This being an election year, some people are blaming US President Donald Trump, a Republican, for the lives lost. It’s worth observing, therefore, that the governor is a Democrat in six of the seven US states is which the death per million rate equals or surpasses Italy.

Likewise, the mayor of the District of Columbia is a Democrat. Only in Massachusetts is a Republican in charge.

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LINKS:

• international deaths per million numbers from here
• US state-by-state deaths per million from here
  
• It’s worth remembering that the death per million rate is continually rising, as deaths mount. 1,134 American deaths were recorded yesterday. France had 107 deaths, and Italy 55. The chart at the top of this post is therefore a snapshot. It represents the data as of this morning.

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