Variations in case totals by countries

Is Europe ringing a false alarm? Headline: AP, Aug. 8, 2020. U.S. tops 5 million confirmed virus cases, to Europe’s alarm With confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. hitting 5 million Sunday, by far the highest of any country, the failure of the most powerful nation in the world to contain the virus has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe. (L.A. Times) “Maybe it is a false alarm. According to the WHO, about 80% of Covid infections are asymptomatic. Some other U.S. estimates feel that it could be closer to 50%. In any case, according to Harvard experts, "All of the best evidence suggests that people without symptoms can and do readily spread the virus" and "evidence suggests that people may be most infectious in the days before they become symptomatic."STAT. However, the U.S. seems to be the only country in the world that is testing those with or without symptoms, as stated in the CDC site. While according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which recommends testing procedures for the continent, they only recommend tests for people after they show symptoms.[37] And in less developed countries, tests are less available for those even with symptoms. So based on those facts, if the U.S. only tested those with symptoms, as they do in Europe, it might not have found from 50% to 80% of infected persons, giving it 50% to 80% fewer reported cases. But because the U.S. does test asymptomatic people, who are then more isolated if infected, they are less able to spread the infection. While in Europe, because asymptomatic and thereby untested people are at least as likely to spread the virus, it seems an American visiting Europe is more at risk than the other way around. So is the headline a false alarm based on wrong facts?

From reading the L.A. Times article, I have an overall bad impression of the article; I would not rank the article as part of serious and neutral journalism.” --Dan Polansky (talk) 12:10, 10 August 2020 (UTC)