True: The U.S. has 4% of the world's population but 25% of the world's COVID-19 cases.

By: Devika Kandelwal
August 19 2020

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Out of the total 22,186,759 cases of Covid-19 as of August 19, 2020, the U.S. has reported 5,487,837 cases or 25% of total cases of Covid-19. In the first half of 2020, SARS‑CoV‑2—the new coronavirus behind the disease COVID‑19—infected 10 million people worldwide and killed about half a million. But few countries have been severely hit, including the United States. The States has just 4 percent of the world's population, but a quarter of the world's confirmed COVID‑19 cases. A few reasons for this could be the slow response by the U.S government in February 2020, the chronic underfunding of the public health system, and an inefficient healthcare system that left hospitals ill-prepared to deal with a pandemic. The U.S response also significantly slowed down when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's coronavirus tests failed, delaying testing for weeks. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.