Following up on an earlier map that we produced for the Talking Maps exhibition at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library in 2019, we have now analysed all tweets that Trump sent since he took office and created a series of cartograms that depict which countries he has mentioned the most on his Twitter activity. The maps below scale the area of a country to reflect the proportion of mentions that this country received in the tweets of the user @realdonaldtrump between his election on November 2016 and November 2020 when he got voted out of office. The larger a country, the more tweets it is featured in. In the weeks after the 2020 election until his account got suspended there were no further significant mentions of foreign countries but almost exclusively communication about domestic matters (namely the election) which are not shown in these maps.

The first map below shows a summary of all Twitter activity during his presidency from November 2016 to November 2020, followed by a series of maps showing each individual year in office.

Trump’s Tweets November 2016 to November 2020 (above)

Twitter was one of the main means of communication during his presidency and was often and widely used and cited in the international media. Since his election, Trump tweeted almost 23,000 messages (retweets excluded) with 2,252 individual references to other countries. A total of 92 countries have been mentioned at least once. The most mentioned countries in his tweets were China, 19 per cent (436 tweets) followed by Russia, 16 per cent (367 tweets), North Korea, 8 per cent (182 tweets), Mexico, 7 per cent (156 tweets) and Ukraine 4 per cent (94 tweets).

As Trump was known to heavily rely on Twitter for announcing his views and his major ‘policies’, these maps are a reflection of the changing priorities of his international outlook and reflect on some of the major global events that defined his period in office.

Trump’s Tweets mentioning foreign countries in 2016/2017 (above)

Between winning the election on 8 November 2016 until the end of 2017, Trump mentioned Russia the most (89 tweets), followed by North Korea (57 tweets) and China (47 tweets), Puerto Rico (33 tweets) and China (21 tweets). In 2017 there was a special counsel investigation into an alleged collusion between Trump and the Russian government, so that many of his tweets focused are around that topic. In September 2017 category 5 hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean and – among other islands – caused Puerto Rico the worst natural disaster in recorded history. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States and as such, the island of Puerto Rico is neither a sovereign nation nor a US state, so that we decided to include it as a foreign territory in our analysis. As a result of the hurricane in the autumn that year, Puerto Rico did not only receive financial aid from the US government, but also a visit of President Trump, accompanied by a considerable number of his tweets.

A total of 55 countries were mentioned in that period.

Trump’s Tweets mentioning foreign countries in 2018 (above)

The investigations against the Russia-Trump connection keep Russia at the top of Trump’s tweets in 2018 (155 tweets), followed by China (82 tweets), North Korea (80 tweets), Mexico (48 tweets) and Canada (31 tweets). While tweets about China, Mexico and Canada deal mainly with tariffs and a looming trade war, North Korea made the list due to the surprise summit of its leader Kim Jong-Un with president Trump taking place in Singapore in 2018.

A total of 56 countries were mentioned by him in that period.

Trump’s Tweets mentioning foreign countries in 2019 (above)

The escalating trade war with China is catapulting China to the top of Trump’s tweets in 2019. The country is mentioned in 168 tweets, about double the number of the runners-up Russia (85 tweets) and Mexico (77 tweets). In March 2019 the investigation into a Trump-Russia-Conspiracy came to an end, which accounts for most of his Russia-related tweets. In the autumn the Trump-Ukraine scandal came to light: the US president requested the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son. This sparked the scandal and put Ukraine in Trump’s tweets (71 tweets). 2019 was his most active year on Twitter.

In total 54 countries were mentioned in his tweets in that period.

Trump’s Tweets mentioning foreign countries in 2020 (above)

2020 was dominated by the US election campaign, so that most of Trump’s tweets dealt with domestic issues which are not displayed in our maps. China still leads the board globally (139 tweets), followed by Russia (38 tweets), Iran (18 tweets), Ukraine (12 tweets) and Mexico (10 tweets). Our analysis concludes with the election on 3 November 2020.

On this page you find our rolling coverage  and updates of the pandemic as it continues to unfold. In our map archive we keep all the most recent updates, while you can view previous versions of these maps in this blog (consisting of part 1 for 2020 and part 2 for 2021). Please note that for the relative data displays the colours have changing values since the case and mortality incidence rates are highly dynamic and keep evolving as the pandemic progresses. It is also important to keep in mind that the picture provided here reflects the situation as it is reported by the individual national health authorities. Case numbers have throughout the course of the pandemic believed to be higher than the reported cases, while the unknown figures may vary significantly between countries. Numbers from poorer countries, especially on the African continent, are believed to be highly underreported. This can – amongst other issues (including political ones) – partly be explained through different testing strategies.

STATUS UPDATE 2 August 2020

We are now 7 months into the pandemic with more than 17 million confirmed cases and 675,000 deaths and no end in sight. While this outbreak hasn’t stopped in some parts of the world (like the USA or Brazil), other countries that had been rather successful in contain the virus see a surge in their cases after easing lockdown measures, like Spain, Germany, Australia, Vietnam or the UK. Most countries have established a test and trace system to keep community outbreaks under control with localised lockdowns.

The United States, Brazil, India and South Africa reported their highest number of cases yet in the month of July, while the month of April was most devastating for the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany. USA, Brazil and India had each more than one million cases in July, India tripling their cases compared to the numbers in June.

New Coronavirus Cases in July 2020

New Coronavirus Cases in April 2020

More Corona cases by month can be found here:

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases January 2020

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases February 2020

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases March 2020

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases April 2020

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases May 2020

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases June 2020

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases July 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is now found in  Qatar (3,834), followed by French Guiana (2,587), Bahrain (2395), San Marino (2,024) and Chile (1849). Of the countries with the highest total case numbers, the United States of America have a count of 1,326 cases per 100,000 people (with a total of 4.4 million cases), followed by Brazil (2.6 million total, 1,201 relative), India (1.6 million total, 119 per capita).

Reported Coronavirus case rates (per 100,000 people) as of 31.07.2020

While the surge in cases marks changes in reported cases per capita the mortality rate remains mostly unchanged. The highest mortality rates (reported deaths per number of confirmed cases) are found in Yemen with 28.2%, followed by France (17.3%), United Kingdom (15.2%), Belgium (14.5%), Italy (14.2%) and Hungary (13.2%).  Eleven countries have a mortality of 10% or higher.

China now has a reported mortality rate of 5.3%, while the United States reported a mortality of 3.4%. Of the countries with many reported cases, India, Russia and South Africa have considerably lower reported mortality rates (2.2%, 1.7% and 1.6% deaths of all reported cases).

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 31.07.2020

The highest number of accumulated cases is recorded in the United States of America (4,388,566), followed by Brazil (2,552,265), India(1,638,870) and Russia (839,981). South Africa (482,169), Mexico (408,449), Peru (400,683), Chile (353,536), United Kingdom (302,305) and Iran (301,530) complete the top 10. The rise in cases in countries of the Americas has pushed most European countries off this list.

Accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 31 July 2020

The highest number of deaths recorded now in the United States of America (150,054), followed by Brazil (90,134), United Kingdom (45,999), Mexico (45361), India (35,747), Italy (35,132), France (30,136), Spain (28,443) and Peru (18,816).

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 31 July 2020

 

STATUS UPDATE 4 June 2020

About a months since our last update, the world according to Covid-19 cases looks very different. The absolute number of accumulated cases has almost doubled to now more than 6.4 million and more than 382,000 have died (all figures last updated 04 June 2020). The trend that we identified at the beginning of May, with the USA as a constant epicentre, growing faster than any other country and South America (namely Brazil and Peru) and Russia closing in and Europe stagnating, hast been manifested. Brazil has recently overtaken the United States in the number of daily cases.

Most countries are now developing different strategies to find the ‘new normal’, which ranges from keeping the borders closed to the outside world (New Zealand and Australia), to opening but demanding testing at point of entrance (Iceland) or opening to a number of considered ‘safe’ countries (Germany and many other EU countries). Some countries demand people to wear masks in the public sphere (Germany), many countries have still restrictions to the number of people who can be in the same space together, most countries are putting some kind of ‘track-trace-isolate protocol’ in place. Also the issue of opening the schools again is dealt with very differently from country to country, sometimes even within a country (Germany, UK). Several companies and scientific labs all over the world are working on a vaccine, some are already been tested on humans. Only time will tell which strategy will be successful to manage a return to some kind of normality living with Covid-19.

The highest number of cases is still recorded  in the United States of America (1,823,220), followed by Brazil (555,383), Russia (441,108) United Kingdom (279,860), Spain (140,326) and Italy (233,836). India (216,919), Germany (182,764), Peru (174,884), Turkey (166,422) and Iran (160,696) complete the top 10.

Accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 4 June 2020

The highest number of deaths recorded now in the United States of America (106,051), followed – with some distance- by United Kingdom (39,728), Italy (33,601), Brazil (31,199), France (28,964), Spain (27,940), Mexico (10,637) and Belgium (9,522).

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 04 June 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is now found in  Qatar (2,157), which saw its cases growing by almost 2000 per day in the past months, followed by San Marino (2,024), Vatican (2,024), Andorra (1,101) and Bahrain (753). Of states with higher case numbers (10000 or more), the USA has now the highest number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants (550), followed by Pero (530), Spain (514) and Belgium (506).
Data availability and quality play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

Reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 04.06.2020

The highest mortality rates (deaths per number of confirmed cases) are found in Yemen with 22.7% , followed by France (19.5%), Sint Maarten (19.2%) and Belgium (16.2%).  Fifteen countries have a mortality of 10% or higher.

Of the larger countries with reported cases in the thousands, France has the highest reported mortality rate (19.5%) followed by Belgium (16.2), Italy (14.4%), the United Kingdom (14.2%), Netherlands (12.8), Spain (11.6) and Sweden (11.1%). After having to correct the number of deaths in Wuhan, China now has a mortality rate of 5.5% (up from 4%), only slightly lower that the United States (5.8%). Of the countries with many reported cases, Germany, Turkey and South Korea  have a considerably lower mortality rates (4.7%, 2.8% and 2.3% deaths of all reported cases).

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 04.06.2020

All the  maps in our post rely on data included in the situation reports provided by the WHO, with further adjustments and corrections that we have documented in the data sheet that can be downloaded from the individual Covid-19 map pages in our map archive where we keep the most recent map of each theme. We have now also created a map animation of the spread of reported cases of the disease which you find here: Map animation: COVID-19’s spread across the world
It is important to keep in mind that the picture provided here reflects the situation as it is reported by the individual national health authorities. Case numbers have throughout the course of the pandemic believed to be higher than the reported cases, while the unknown figures may vary significantly between countries. This can – amongst other issues (including political ones) – partly be explained through different testing strategies.

STATUS UPDATE 03 May 2020

Three months after the lockdown of Wuhan started the world looks very different. There are now more than 3.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, almost a third of them in the USA alone. China is playing a minor role now in both, number of cases and deaths, the USA and Europe are the epicentres of the pandemic now, with Russia and South America growing quickly.

There are now five countries with more than 20,000 accumulated confirmed deaths: USA, Italy, Spain, France and United Kingdom. While the numbers of people dying are slowing down in Italy and Spain, in the USA they almost doubled. This suggests that the USA have not reached the peak yet, president Trump is pushing for a quicker end of the lockdown.

Some countries that started to enforce their lockdowns earlier, like Denmark and Austria, starting to ease the measures in the coming weeks, since their data suggests that they are over the peak. Also Spain is allowing more than just the essential workers back to their work places from tomorrow on. In other countries, like Germany and the UK, the strategy of how to ease the lockdown measures are only about to start. In Germany it will be compulsory to wear a mask in public from the 27. April on. Sweden is still about to see whether their strategy based of trust in its citizens and no enforced lockdown is paying off in the longer run. At this moment they have registered more deaths due to coronavirus than their neighbouring countries of Finland, Norway and Denmark. Singapore is recording a surge in numbers of cases during the past days and the government is considering stricter measures.

Since 31 December 2019, when the WHO was informed about the first cases in Wuhan, China, more than 3.3 million people are confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 (Coronavirus) from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and more 238,000 have died (all figures last updated 03 May 2020).
There are now cases of Covid-19 on all continents, in 216 countries/territories.

The highest number of cases is recorded now in the United States of America (1,093,880), followed by Spain (216,582), Italy (209,328), United Kingdom (182,264), Germany (162,496),  Russia (134,687) and France (129,458).

Accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 03 May 2020

The United States of Amerika has also now the highest number of deaths (62,406), followed by Italy (28,710), United Kingdom (28,131) then Spain (25,100), France (24,724), and Belgium (7,765). There are now 37 territories with  no recorded deaths yet, meaning that there are 179 territories where people have died.

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 03 May 2020

Today we have also published a separate blog feature focussing on the spread of Covid-19 on the African continent: Covid-19 in Africa.

STATUS UPDATE 23 April 2020

Since 31 December 2019, when the WHO was informed about the first cases in Wuhan, China, more than 2.5 million people are confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 (Coronavirus) from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and more 175,000 have died (all figures last updated 23 April 2020).
There are now cases of Covid-19 on all continents, in 215 countries/territories.

The highest number of cases is recorded now in the United States of America (800,926), followed by Spain (208,389), Italy (187,327), Germany (148,046), United Kingdom (133,499), France (117,961) and Turkey (98,674).

Accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 23 April 2020

The United States of Amerika has also now the highest number of deaths (40,073), followed by Italy (25,085), then Spain (21,717), France (21,307), United Kingdom (18,100) and Belgium (6,262). There are now 42 territories with  no recorded deaths yet, meaning that there are 174 territories where people have died.

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 23 April 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is found in  San Marino (1,438), followed by Vatican (1112), Andorra (937), Luxembourg (584) and Iceland (523). Of states with higher case numbers (5000 or more), Spain has the highest relative number (446 per 100,000 people), followed by Belgium (361), Switzerland (326), Italy (310) and the USA (242).
Data availability and quality play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

Reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 23.04.2020

The highest mortality rates are found in the British Virgin Islands with 25% (one death in 4 cases), followed Nicaragua (20%), France (18.1%), Sint Maarten (15.5%) and Belgium (14.9%). Twenty-one countries have a mortality of 10% or higher.

Of the larger countries with reported cases in the thousands, France has the highest reported mortality rate (18.1%) followed by Belgium (14.9), the United Kingdom (13.6%), Italy (13.4%), Sweden (12.1%) and the Netherlands (11.6%). After having to correct the number of deaths in Wuhan, China now has a mortality rate of 5.5% (up from 4%), only slightly higher that the United States (5%). Of the countries with many reported cases, Germany, Turkey and South Korea  have a considerably lower mortality rates (3.4%, 2.4% and 2.2% deaths of all reported cases).

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 23.04.2020

STATUS UPDATE 13 April 2020

Since 31 December 2019, when the WHO was informed about the first cases in Wuhan, China, more than 1,773,084 million people are confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 (Coronavirus) from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and more 111,652 have died (all figures last updated 13 April 2020).
There are now cases of Covid-19 on all inhabited continents, in 211 countries/territories.

The highest number of cases is recorded now in the United States of America (524,514), followed by Spain (166,019), Italy (156,363), Germany (123,016),  France (67,757), United Kingdom (84,283) and China (83,597).

The United States of Amerika has now the highest number of deaths (20,444), closely followed by Italy (19,901), then Spain (16,972), France (14,374), United Kingdom (10,612) and Iran (4,474). There are now 52 territories with  recorded deaths yet, meaning that there are 166 territories where people have died.

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 13 April 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is found in  San Marino (1,049), followed by Vatican (989), Andorra (827), Luxembourg (524), Iceland (498) and Gibraltar (382). Of states with higher case numbers (5000 or more), Spain has the highest relative number (355 per 100,000 people), followed by Switzerland (291), Italy (258), Belgium (256) and Austria (131).
Data availability and quality play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

Reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 13.04.2020

The highest mortality rates are found in Zimbabwe  with 21.4%, followed by some small island states with few cases. Nine countries have a mortality of 15% or higher and 24 countries of 10% and higher.

Of the larger countries with reported cases in the thousands, France has the highest reported mortality rate (15.2%) followed by Italy (12.7%), United Kingdom (12.6%), Belgium (12.1) and the Netherlands (10.7%). China has a mortality rate of 4%. Of the countries with many reported cases, Germany and United States have a considerably lower mortality rates (2.3% and 2% deaths of all reported cases).

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 13.04.2020

STATUS UPDATE 05 April 2020

As of today, a total of 1,133,758 people have been confirmed to have (or have had) contracted COVID-19. 62,784 people have died (all figures last updated 05 April 2020). There are now cases of Covid-19 on all continents, in 211 countries/territories.
The highest number of cases is recorded now in the United States of America (273,808), followed by Spain (124,736), Italy (124,632), Germany (91,214), China (82,930), and France (67,757). Spain overtook Italy as the country with most infections in Europe and Germany joined the other three countries with more infections than China.

Accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 05 April 2020

Italy has still the highest number of reported deaths (15,362), closely followed by Spain (11,744), then France (7,546), USA (7,020), United Kingdom (4,313) and Iran (3,452). There are now 61 territories with no recorded deaths yet, meaning that there are 150 territories where people have died.

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 05 April 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is found in Vatican (865), San Marino (736), Andorra (603), Luxembourg (436), Iceland (415) and the Faroe Islands (370). Of states with higher case numbers (1000 or more), Spain has the highest relative number (267 per 100,000 people), followed by Switzerland (237), Italy (206), Belgium (159) and Austria (131). The following cartogram shows the reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 05.04.2020 on an equal-population projection:

Reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 05.04.2020

The highest mortality rates are found in Botswana and Gambia with 25% (one out of four reported patients died there), followed by some (mostly African) states with few cases. Six countries have a mortality of 20% or higher and 22 countries of 10% and higher.

Of the larger countries with reported cases in the thousands, Italy has the highest reported mortality rate (12.3%) followed by France (11.1%), United Kingdom (10.3%), the Netherlands (9.9%) and Spain (9.4%). China has a mortality rate of 4%. Of the countries with many reported cases, Germany and United States have a considerably lower mortality rates (1.5% and 2.6% deaths of all reported cases).  The following cartogram shows Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 05.04.2020 on an equal-population projection:

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 05.04.2020

Mortality is dependent on many factors, including the demography (older patients are more likely to die) and the healthcare system (such as availability of intensive care). Data availability and quality also play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

STATUS UPDATE 01 April 2020

As of today, a total of 823,626 people have been confirmed to be or have contracted COVID-19. 40,598 people have died (all figures last updated 01 April 2020). There are now cases of Covid-19 on all continents, in 208 countries/territories.
The highest number of cases is recorded now in the United States of America (163,199), followed by Italy  (105,792), Spain (94,417), China (82,631), Germany (67,366) and France (51,477).

Accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 01 April 2020

Italy has the highest total number of deaths (12,430), followed by Spain (8,189), France (3,514), China (3,321) and Iran (2,898).

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 01 April 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is found in Vatican (742), San Marino (695), Andorra (487), Luxembourg (348), Faroe Islands (346) and Iceland (333). Of states with higher case numbers (1000 or more), Spain has the highest relative number (202 per 100,000 people), followed by Switzerland (186), Italy (175), Austria (113) and Belgium (110). The following cartogram shows the reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 01.04.2020 on an equal-population projection:

Reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 01.04.2020

The highest mortality rates are found in Gambia with 33.3% (one out of three reported patients died there), followed by some (mostly African) states with few cases. Also a relatively high mortality is found in larger countries with few reported cases (such as Bangladesh, Iraq, or Indonesia, all between around 7 and 10%). Of the larger countries with reported cases in the thousands, Italy has the highest reported mortality rate (11.7%) followed by  Spain (8.7%), the Netherlands (8.2%) and the United Kingdom (7.1%). China has a mortality rate of 4%. Of the countries with many reported cases, Germany and United States have a considerably lower mortality rates (1.1% and 1.7% deaths of all reported cases). The following cartogram shows Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 01.04.2020 on an equal-population projection:

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 01.04.2020

Mortality is dependent on many factors, including the demography (older patients are more likely to die) and the healthcare system (such as availability of intensive care). Data availability and quality also play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

STATUS UPDATE 29 March 2020
As of today, a total of 634,835 people have been confirmed to be or have contracted with COVID-19. 29,954 people have died (all figures last updated 29. March 2020). The following cartogram shows the total accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 29 March 2020:

Coronavirus cases as of 29 March 2020

The highest number of cases is recorded now in the United States of America (103,321), followed by Italy  (92,427), Spain (77,248), Germany (52,547) and France (37,145). Italy has the highest total number of deaths (10,023), followed by Spain (5,690), China (3306) and Iran (2,517). The following cartogram shows the total accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 29 March 2020:

Coronavirus deaths as of 29 March 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is found in San Marino (672), followed by Vatican (494), Andorra (415), Faroe Islands (317), Luxembourg (293) and Iceland (282). Of states with higher case numbers (1000 or more), Spain has the highest relative number (155 per 100,000 people), followed by Italy (153), Switzerland (152), Austria (92) and Belgium (79). The following cartogram shows the reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 29.03.2020 on an equal-population projection:

Reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 29.03.2020

The highest mortality rates are found in Gambia with 33.3% (one out of three reported patients died there), followed by small states with few cases. Also a relatively high mortality is found in larger countries with few reported cases (such as Bangladesh, Iraq, or Indonesia, all between around 8 and 9%). Of the larger countries with reported cases in the thousands, Italy has the highest reported mortality rate (10.8%) followed by  Spain (7.9%), Iran (7.1%),and the Netherlands (6.5%). China has a mortality rate of 4%. Of the countries with many reported cases, Germany and United States have a considerably lower mortality rates (0.7% and 1.6% deaths of all reported cases). The following cartogram shows Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 29.03.2020 on an equal-population projection:

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 29.03.2020

Mortality is dependent on many factors, including the demography (older patients are more likely to die) and the healthcare system (such as availability of intensive care). Data availability and quality also play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

STATUS UPDATE 25 March 2020
As of today, 413,467 people were confirmed to be infected with COVID-19. 18,433 people have died.

Accumulated Coronavirus cases as of 25 March 2020

Outside of China, Italy has the highest number of cases (69,176) and deaths (6,820), followed by United States of America (42,164 cases, 471 deaths), Spain (39,673 cases, 2,696 deaths) and Germany (31,554 cases, 149 deaths). Italy has the highest total number of deaths, followed by China (3,287), Spain (2,696), Iran (1,934) and France (1,100).

Accumulated Coronavirus deaths as of 25 March 2020

STATUS UPDATE 24 March 2020
As of today, a total of 372,755 people have been confirmed to be or have contracted with COVID-19. 14,510 people have died (all figures last updated 24. March 2020).

Coronavirus cases as of 24 March 2020

Outside of China, Italy has the highest number of cases (63,927) and deaths (6,077), followed by United States of America (42,164 cases, 471 deaths), Spain (33,089 cases, 2,182 deaths) and Germany (29,212 cases, 126 deaths). Italy has the highest total number of deaths, followed by China (3,283), Spain (2,182), Iran (1,812) and France (860).

Coronavirus Deaths 24 March 2020

Highest per capita cases are often found in states with smaller populations where testing may lead to more detected cases. The highest number of reported cases per 100,000 people is found in San Marino (551), followed by Faroe Islands (241), Andorra (212), Iceland (182) and Luxembourg (140). Of states with higher case numbers (1000 or more), Italy has the highest relative number (106 per 100,000 people), followed by Switzerland (93), Spain (70), Austria (50) and Norway (44).

Reported Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 24.03.2020

The highest mortality rates are found in Sudan and Zimbabwe with 50% (one out of two reported patients died there), followed by small (mostly island) states with few cases. Also relatively high mortality is found in larger countries with few reported cases (such as Bangladesh, Iraq, or Indonesia, all between around 8 and 9%). Of the larger countries with reported cases in the thousands, Italy has the highest reported mortality rate (9.5%) followed by Iran (7.9%), Spain (6.5%) and the United Kingdom (5%). China has a mortality rate of 4%. Of the countries with many reported cases, Germany and United States have a considerably lower mortality rates (0.4% and 1.1% deaths of all reported cases).

Coronavirus mortality (% deaths per reported cases) as of 24.03.2020

Mortality is dependent on many factors, including the demography (older patients are more likely to die) and the healthcare system (such as availability of intensive care). Data availability and quality also play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

STATUS UPDATE 23 March 2020
Since 31 December 2019, when the WHO was informed about the first cases in Wuhan, China, 332,930 people were confirmed to be infected by a new coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2), now also known as Covid-19. 14,510 have died from the virus.
Outside of China (81,601 cases) Italy has now the highest number of cases (59,138) and deaths (5,476), followed by United States of America (31,573 cases, 402 deaths), Spain (28,572 cases, 1,720 deaths) and Germany (24,774 cases, 94 deaths). Italy has the highest total number of deaths, followed by China (3,276), Spain (1,720), Iran (1,685) and France (674).

Coronavirus cases as of 23 March 2020

Small states/territories lead the list in cases per capita: San Marino with 445 per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Faroe Islands (235/100,000), Iceland (166/100,000), Andorra (146/100,000) and Luxembourg (127/100,000). Among the countries with the highest totals, Italy has 97 per 100,000 inhabitants, Spain 61, Iran 25, United States of America 10 and China 6.

Italy has the highest total number of deaths in all countries (5,476), followed by China (3,276), Spain (1,720), Iran (1,685) and France (674).

Coronavirus Deaths 23 March 2020

Data availability and quality play an important part in these highly variable statistics, with the number of unreported cases being believed to be quite considerable in some countries.

STATUS UPDATE 22 March 2020

More lockdowns and curfews are set in place, countries are urging their citizens to not travel anywhere, not abroad or even within the country. Citizens who are abroad at the moment are urged to make their way home as soon as possible, as more and more flight connections and airports are closing down.

More than half of all cases are now reported in Europe. The spread of the diseases has therefore now become clearly visible on a map that includes China.

Coronavirus cases as of 22 March 2020

Outside of China Italy has the highest number of cases (53578) and deaths (4827), followed by and Spain (24926 cases, 1326 deaths), Germany (21463 cases, 67 deaths) and Iran (20610 cases, 1556 deaths).
There are now cases of Covid-19 on all continents, but the maps show that Europe has become the epicentre of the pandemic.

Coronavirus cases outside China as of 22 March 2020

STATUS UPDATE 17 March 2020

While the pandemic seems to be slowing down in China, with fewer and fewer reported cases every day, Europe and North America are in lockdown: Travel bans are put in place, borders are closed, the public life forced to a stand still. In most countries the schools are closed, only shops that sell the most necessary things (grocery stores and pharmacies) are supposed to be open. People are either forced to stay inside (like in Italy or Spain), need permits to be outside (like in France) or at least asked to stay home and not meet with anyone else. Social distancing in the new buzz word. There is not one strategy, it is more everyone for themselves. In many countries the numbers more than doubled from one day to the next, there are now more cases outside of China th4n inside and no end in sight.

Outside of China Italy has the highest number of cases (27,980) and deaths (2503 deaths), followed by Iran (14,991 cases, 853 deaths) and Spain (9191 cases, 309 deaths). At this rate, it will not take long for Italy to reach China’s death toll of 3231.

There are now cases of Covid-19 on all continents, but the maps show that Europe developed in the epicentre of the pandemic.

The following maps show the spreading of the diseases to territories outside of and including mainland China. The countries are proportional to the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, most recent first.

Coronavirus cases outside mainland China as of 17 March 2020

 

Coronavirus cases as of 17 March 2020

STATUS UPDATE 12 March 2020

Overall 118 countries/territories confirmed 125,048 cases. More than 80,000 of these are in China, the number of new cases reported outside of China (6,703) outnumbers the ones in China (26) by far. (last updated 12. March 2020). Outside of China there are most cases in Italy (12,462), the reason why the government ordered a lock-down of the entire country. Iran (9,000) is on third place globally, followed by South Korea (7,869). Denmark and Poland closed all schools and kindergartens for the next weeks, other countries are expected to follow. President Trump imposed a travel ban for Europeans travelling into the US from Schengen countries and also European countries are enforcing border controls.

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases outside China as of 12.03.2020

Covid-19/Coronavirus cases as of 12.03.2020

STATUS UPDATE 08. March 2020

Overall more than 100 territories reported cases until today. Globally there are now 105 586 confirmed (3656 new) cases.  More than 80,000 of these are in China, the number of new cases outside of China (3610) outnumbers the ones in China (46) by far. (Date 08.03. 2020)
So far more than 3500 deaths (98 new) have been recorded, with 484 outside of China.

The following maps show the spreading of the diseases to territories outside of man including mainland China. The countries are proportional to the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, most recent first.

Coronavirus outside of China as of 08.03.2020

Coronavirus cases as of 08.03.2020

In relative terms, the one reported case in Vatican City leads to this territory having most cases per population (123.6 cases per 100,000 people) though this extreme figure is due to its very low population. A similar statement might be made about San Marino (79.6 per 100,000). These very small states are followed by South Korea (13.9/100,000) and Iceland (13.2/100,000). Of the states with the largest absolute cases, Italy (9.7), Iran (6.9) and China (5.6) are currently also among the higher-ranking countries in the per-capita statistics.

Coronavirus cases (per 100,000 people) as of 08.03.2020

STATUS UPDATE 04. March 2020

12 new member states – Andorra, Argentina, Chile, Jordan, Latvia, Morocco, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, and Tunisia – reported cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Globally there are now 93,090 confirmed cases (2223 new) in 76 countries. More than 80,000 of these are in China, the number of new cases outside of China (2103) outnumbers the ones in China (120) by far.
So far 2984 deaths (38 new) have been recorded, with 214 outside of China.

WHO from 04. March 2020

Coronavirus cases outside China as of 4 March 2020

The proportion of cases becomes visible when we compare all cases on 22 February and on 4 March (below).

Coronavirus cases as of 22 February 2020

Coronavirus cases as of 4 March 2020

STATUS UPDATE 02. March 2020

Globally there are now 88,948 confirmed  cases (1804 new), more than 80,000 of these in China. The majority of the new cases though- 1598 out of the 1804 cases – have been recorded outside of China.  The WHO confirmed now cases in 64 countries, there have been 11 new countries since the last update: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czechia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,, Luxembourg, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland Monaco and Qatar. WHO from 02. March 2020

Coronavirus cases outside China 02 March 2020

STATUS 29. February 2020

With ever more countries declaring coronavirus cases (Mexico and San Marino the latest ones) the three main clusters outside China remain South Korea (3,150 cases, 17 deaths), Iran (388 cases, 34 deaths) and Italy (888 cases, 21 deaths). Six patients died on the cruise ship Diamond Princess currently in quarantine in Japanese territorial waters. There are 705 cases in total on that cruise ship, coming from different nationalities. WHO counts these as ‘International conveyance’ and these are therefore not shown in this map unless they returned to their home countries.

According to the Situation Report from the WHO from 29.02. 2020, there now are 85,403 confirmed cases (1,753 new) in 53 countries. 2,838 deaths (47 new) were counted in China so far, and 86 deaths (19 new) outside of China. The WHO risk assessment upgraded the risk level to ‘very high’ also on regional and global level.

Coronavirus cases outside China as of 29 February 2020

According to the WHO ‘a novel coronavirus (CoV) is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. The new, or “novel” coronavirus, now called 2019-nCoV, had not previously detected before the outbreak was reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses found in both animals and humans. Some infect people and are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).‘

Previous data:

As of 23 February 2020 there were almost 75,000 cases confirmed in mainland China. Other cases in Asia included cases in , South Korea (602), Japan (132), Hong Kong (70), Taiwan (26) and Macao (10).
188 confirmed cases in South East Asia and Oceania, 118 in Europe and 23 in North America. Most of these cases are connected to a so-called ‘travel history to China’, but there is a growing number of confirmed cases with ‘confirmed transmission outside of China’ or ‘in the reporting countries’.
So far 2,460 people died of the disease, among those twenty died outside of mainland China: 5 in Iran, 5 in South Korea, 2 each in Italy and Hong Kong, 1 each in Japan, France, Taiwan and the Philippines. Two patients died on the cruise ship Diamond Princess currently in quarantine in Japanese territorial waters. There are 634 cases in total on that cruise ship, from different nationalities. WHO counts these as ‘International conveyance’.

Coronavirus cases outside China as of 23. February 2020

As of 20 February 2020 there were almost 75,000 cases confirmed in mainland China. Other cases in Asia included cases in Japan (85), South Korea (104), Hong Kong (65), Taiwan (24) and Macao (10).
176 confirmed cases in South East Asia and Oceania, 45 in Europe and 23 in North America. Most of these cases are connected with a so-called ‘travel history to China’, but there is a growing number of confirmed cases with ‘confirmed transmission outside of China’
So far 2129 people died of the disease, among those eight died outside of China: 2 in Iran, and 1 each in South Korea, Japan, France and the Philippines. Two patients died on the cruise ship Diamond Princess currently in quarantine in Japanese territorial waters. There are 621 cases in total on that cruise ship, from different nationalities. WHO counts these as ‘International conveyance’.

Coronavirus cases outside China as of 23. February 2020

As of 5 February 2020 there where 24,324 cases confirmed in mainland China (3,219 severe cases). Other cases in Asia included cases in Japan (33), South Korea (18), Hong Kong (18), Taiwan (11) and Macao (10).
86 confirmed cases in South East Asia and Oceania, 26 in Europe and 16 in North America. Most of these cases are connected with a so-called ‘travel history to China’, but there is a growing number of confirmed cases with ‘confirmed transmission outside of China’
So far 491 people died of the disease, the only death outside of China has occurred in the Philippines.

Corona virus cases outside of China as of 5. February 2020

The food, beverage and feed industry have in 2017 been contributing to $133 billion of the US exports, with soybeans being the single largest product within this category.

A closer look at the soybean industry helps to understand why this crop found itself in the global headlines. The main producers globally are the USA and Brazil, as well as (at a distant third place) Argentina.

Soy Bean production 2016

China as well as India are major producers though at only around 10 per cent of the quantity that the USA produces. However, their domestic demand exceeds their production considerably. Paraguay, Canada and Ukraine are also mainly producing for the global market, but play only a minor role in global trade.

In the following cartograms all countries are proportional according to the total soybean exports from the USA (left) and imports into China (right). This shows that the major global producers in the Americas are also the major suppliers for the Chinese market.

Soybean Exports USA 2017

Soybean Imports China 2017

Exports of soybeans from the USA are spread geographically, but still quite concentrated on few regions. China is the major importer (of approximately 60 per cent of the US exports), followed in much smaller import quantities by Mexico and then the Southeast Asian and European markets (which are channelled through the Dutch and German shipping ports).

The picture of global soybean trade makes it quite clear that Brazil and Argentina will not be able to meet China’s demand alone, even if they now have a competitive advantage over the US producers. However, in the context of the trade Donald Trump’s decision of announcing new tariffs targeting China were mostly led by the existing trade deficit between the USA and China, so that it becomes clear why China responded with its own tariffs on a produce that is a major part of the surplus generating trade sectors in the USA.

Overall the USA has been running a growing trade deficit (which increased by 25 per cent since 2010), while China has a considerable (yet shrinking) global trade surplus. These global patterns are reflected in the trade relationship between the two countries where China is a major contributor to the US trade deficit, which in turn feeds into China’s surplus.

US Trade Deficit 2017

These two cartograms show the countries and regions proportional according to the total deficits (US) and total surpluses (China) in trade with these areas.

China Trade Surplus 2017

The interconnectedness of the US and Chinese global trade in goods becomes very visible in these maps and helps to understand the currently existing conflicts.
Soybeans have become a symbol for the complexity of global trade relations that have developed over the past decades and are now manifested in complex cobwebs of flows of goods across the planet.

Increase in Life Expectancy between 1950 to 2015

Countries with an already large life expectancy therefore become smaller while those countries with large populations and major improvements are the largest in these images. While the biggest increase between 1950 and 2015 can be found in India and China (resulting from both, better living conditions and an increase in population), Africa is clearly dominating the positive change from 2015 to 2050, even though the countries with the lowest life expectancy at birth are also all from the African continent. Overall the 2018 Human Development Report (HDR) reported 11 countries with a life expectancy of less than 60 years. All of them are in Africa. The Central African Republic, Sierra Leone and Chad are among those with a life expectancy of below 55 years.

Increase in Life Expectancy between 2015 and 2050

Although life expectancy has increased substantially in most countries over the past decades, this does not tell anything about the quality of life lived. Therefore international reports use different indicators to measure quality of health and well-being.
The Human Development Report for instance considers differences in access to physicians and hospital beds. Europe and Central Asia have 24.7 physicians per 10,000 people, South Asia 7.8 and Sub-Saharan Africa 1.9. The HDR also tries to measure ‘healthy life expectancy’, which would be the years lived to be expected to be in good health and ‘lost health expectancy’, which is the relative difference between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy expressed as the percentage of life expectancy at birth. According to the HDR “ Healthy life expectancy is 12.0 percent lower than overall life expectancy for all regions and human development groups. This means that, on average, people around the globe spend 88.0 percent of their life in fairly good health but face challenges in their last years. Disparities are large across countries and human development groups. Healthy life expectancy is 69.9 years in very high human development countries but 53.3 years in low human development countries.” (Human Development Report 2018)
While life expectancy remains a highly unequal issue, there are positive trends that give hope for longer lives for everyone. A tool published on the BBC website makes it possible to explore the life expectancy by country of birth and gender, showing how geography, gender and age all play a part in people’s longevity around the world.
Improving on this even further is one of the goals declared in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: “Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development.Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality, but working towards achieving the target of less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030 would require improvements in skilled delivery care.”

Whales caught in 2016

In 1982, the commission took the decision that catch limits for all commercial whaling would be set to zero starting in the 1985/86 season. Nevertheless, both Norway and Iceland are hunting whales commercially at present, either under objection to the moratorium, or under reservation to it. Iceland even formally left the commission between 1990 and 2003. These countries have established their own catch limits but must provide information on their catches and associated scientific data to the Commission. Norway and Iceland allow hunting North Atlantic Common Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) within their Exclusive Economic Zone, and Iceland also approves of hunting North Atlantic Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus). In 2016 Iceland did not catch any whales, but made headlines again in 2018 with a suspected catch of a blue whale, which later turned out to be a hybrid between a blue whale and a fin whale.
The moratorium is binding to all other members of the IWC. Other countries taking whales are either allowed to undertake Aboriginal subsistence whaling or Special Permit Whaling. Japan is fishing under the ‘special permit’ ruling. North America/Alaska, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Greenland are whaling with an ‘Aboriginal Subsistence’ permit with respective catch limits.

Decline in whales caught 1986-90 to 2012-16

Looking at the five-year period right after the moratorium 1986-1990 and the five most recent recorded years 2012-2016 shows some changes in patterns of whaling. In that period the number of whales caught globally has halved.
The biggest decline in whale catches happened in Russia. In the 2012-16 period they caught 10 per cent of their (USSR) 1986-90 numbers, followed by Japan, which reduced their numbers by 70 per cent.
Japan is the only nation still catching whales in Antarctic waters, a fact that is challenged in courts by the governments of Australia and New Zealand.

Increase in whales caught from 1986-90 to 2012-16

While Japan was the biggest whale hunting nation between 1986 and 1990, it was overtaken by Norway in the most recent years.
Norway  almost quadrupled the numbers of whales caught between the periods of 1986-1990 and 2012-2016. Greenland and Iceland had a 50 per cent increase in that time. The species of whales caught differs due to different catching areas. Minke whales are caught by Norway, Japan, Iceland, and Greenland. In North American waters mostly Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) are taken, while Russia is going after Grey whales (Eschrichtius robustus). Japan is also hunting Sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis)  and Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera brydei), while Greenland is also taking some Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).