By Seanna Watson 
Current COVID-19 disease and death rate, as a proportion of population:
- Globally: 1 in 312 has contracted COVID-19; 1 in 9260 has died
- Canada: 1 in 296 has contracted COVID-19; 1 in 4147 has died
- US: 1 in 55 has contracted COVID-19; 1 in 1812 has died
As of August 30, the total number of recorded cases worldwide has exceeded 25,000,000 with over 840,000 deaths. Put in perspective, the global case rate is 0.3% (1 in 112 humans has contracted COVID-19), and the death rate is about 3.3% (1 in 30 of those who contract the disease have died). Worldwide, the daily death rate has been as high as 10,500 (in mid-April), and for the past few months has averaged about 5000. By comparison, the worldwide daily death rate from all causes is about 150,000. (Also worth noting that the global numbers likely underestimate the case rate, and over-estimate the death rate, since mild cases are less likely to be reported in areas with limited public infrastructure.)
In Canada, the total number of recorded cases is 127,673 (1 in 296, or 0.3% of the population has contracted COVID-19), with 9,113 deaths (death rate of ~7%, or 1 in 14).
Looking at our neighbour to the south, the U.S. has a total number of recorded cases of 5,963,235 — 1 in 55, or 1.8% of the population, with 182,786 deaths (death rate of ~3%, or 1 in 33). So it’s clearly a good idea for us to keep the borders closed for the time being.
Some questions arise from these numbers — arguably, Canada is doing a reasonable job getting a handle on the pandemic, and flattening the curve. But we have a world-class universal healthcare system, so why is our death rate high? One contributing factor is that, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, the virus found its way into long-term care homes (which has helped to highlight serious deficiencies in the system, some of which are now being addressed).
But another contributing factor appears to be that our medical system has prolonged the life of people with various chronic diseases — and this population is particularly susceptible to serious illness and death resulting from contracting COVID-19. (These people are, of course, also more likely to die from influenza, pneumonia, etc., but under normal circumstances, the risks are mitigated by vaccines and herd immunity.)
For those interested in tracking stats, there are countless resources available with tables, graphs, and charts. Here are a few that might be useful — reader suggestions for more are welcome; please post in the comments on our webpage, or email us here.
Daily updates from Health Canada are available here. On Twitter, biostatistician Ryan Imgrund provides comprehensive charts with daily updates, including details of case counts and transmission rates, broken down by age group and public health unit. Further, here’s a chart that shows the risk of encountering a contagious person, according to the size and location of the group.
Here’s an interactive website that provides both history and projections based on various scenarios, broken down by country and region.
Stay safe, everyone!