As of Thursday, over a quarter-million people in the United States had died of covid-19 as the number of confirmed cases continues to skyrocket. Hospitals are short on nurses, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended against traveling for the holidays.
Each of these 250,000 people is a life lost to a single virus in less than nine months. One way to understand the impact of this loss is to compare it with the number of people who live in your town, city or county. This amount of death would draw a hole in America’s heartland.
250,000 people is more than the population of any of these counties
Approximately 250,000 people live inside the yellow
stroke. If all of the reported covid deaths in the U.S. were
contained in this area, its whole population would have died.
Approximately 250,000 people live inside the yellow
stroke. If all of the reported covid deaths in the U.S. were
contained in this area, its whole population would have died.
Approximately 250,000 people live inside the yellow stroke.
If all of the reported covid deaths in the U.S. were contained in
this area, its whole population would have died.
Approximately 250,000 people live inside the yellow stroke.
If all of the reported covid deaths in the U.S. were contained in
this area, its whole population would have died.
[Live updates: U.S. death toll surpasses 250,000 as hospitals strain under the surge]
The majority of counties in the United States have less than 250,000 inhabitants. In these places, the number of people who have died of covid-19 in the United States is the same or many times greater than the county’s population.
How many times you’d need to multiply
the county population to get 250,000
1x
5x
10x
15x
20x
25x+
How many times you’d need to multiply
the county population to get 250,000
1x
5x
10x
15x
20x
25x or more
How many times you’d need to multiply the county population to get 250,000
1x
5x
10x
15x
20x
25x or more
As deaths continue to rise across the country, daily confirmed cases of covid-19 are skyrocketing. Over 11 million confirmed cases have been reported, which is more than the combined population of multiple states.
The entire population of these 278 counties
is roughly equivalent to the number of people
infected with the virus in the United States
ND
MT
ID
SD
WY
NV
NE
CO
UT
The entire population of these 278 counties is
roughly equivalent to the number of people infected
with the virus in the United States
ND
MT
ID
SD
WY
NV
NE
Salt Lake City
CO
Denver
UT
The entire population of these 278 counties is roughly equivalent
to the number of people infected with the virus in the United States
Great Falls
Missoula
ND
MT
Bismarck
Bozeman
ID
SD
Idaho Falls
Rapid City
WY
Casper
NV
Cheyenne
NE
Salt Lake City
Denver
CO
UT
[U.S. coronavirus cases and state maps: Tracking cases, deaths]
The recent spike in daily confirmed cases is the largest wave so far during the pandemic in the United States, and it shows no sign of slowing. It is estimated that more than 3 million people in the nation have active coronavirus infections and are potentially contagious.
When each county reached its peak number of cases
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
Note: Data as of Nov. 17
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
Note: Data as of Nov. 17
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
Note: Data as of Nov. 17
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
Note: Data as of Nov. 17
This week, two companies announced coronavirus vaccines that appear to be more than 90 percent effective in clinical trials. However, it will still be many months before the vaccine is distributed to people who are not considered at “high risk” based on their job, age and underlying health conditions.
[What you need to know about the Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines]
About this story
Covid-19 data from Washington Post reporting (data reported by states and counties). Population estimates are from the 2019 American Community Survey. Dan Keating and Harry Stevens contributed to this report.
