- Mar 14, 2007
- 17,911
- 14,804
- 113
The population-adjusted death toll in the U.S. surpassed Western Europe’s two months ago. The U.S. death toll is far above those of France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia and many other countries — and is on pace to overtake Italy’s in the next few days and Britain’s and Spain’s not long after that.
The virus began spreading widely in Europe earlier than in North America. Much of Europe failed to contain it at first and suffered terrible death tolls. The per capita toll in a few countries, like Britain, Italy and Spain, remains slightly higher than in the U.S. But those countries managed to get the virus under control by the late spring. Their caseloads plummeted.
In the U.S., the virus erupted later — yet caseloads never plummeted. Almost every day for the past six months, at least 20,000 Americans have been diagnosed with the virus. Europe learned the hard lesson and applied remedies. America did not, even though we had more warning.
The virus began spreading widely in Europe earlier than in North America. Much of Europe failed to contain it at first and suffered terrible death tolls. The per capita toll in a few countries, like Britain, Italy and Spain, remains slightly higher than in the U.S. But those countries managed to get the virus under control by the late spring. Their caseloads plummeted.
In the U.S., the virus erupted later — yet caseloads never plummeted. Almost every day for the past six months, at least 20,000 Americans have been diagnosed with the virus. Europe learned the hard lesson and applied remedies. America did not, even though we had more warning.
