Everyone agrees that the Covid-19 problem is awful, and almost everyone thinks that their politicians are doing a terrible job of managing it. A friend on Facebook recently described the situation in Alberta as being “a dumpster fire” and she isn’t wrong. Comparatively, though, the dumpster fire is bigger in a lot of other places.
I have been trying to pay attention to the rates of infection in the three places where I have family: Alberta, California, and England. On Friday 13th November the number of cases per 100,000 population for the last seven days were:
Alberta: 118; California: 17; England: 261
In each country there are huge regional disparities, but the number of cases per 100,000 for the countries as a whole are:
Canada: 81; USA: 41; UK: 242
The regions with the highest number of cases per 100,000 in each country are:
Manitoba: 190; North Dakota: 175; North West England: 383
I don’t have any great insight into why these differences are so great, but clearly some areas are doing a better job of keeping the virus under control than others. I have no knowledge of the data gathering methods of each country, and if they are very different that could make my comparisons unjustified. However, from the statistics I have seen, the UK’s recent decision to have a two-week lockdown is very necessary.
Just when we think we’ve got a handle on the problem, people get fed up with isolation and go to parties. Then, as night follows day, we get another resurgence. Only a month ago, Alberta’s rate per 100,000 population was about 30. Now it is 118. The virus can spread that fast.
Stay safe, everyone, and WEAR A MASK!!
Sources:
Snowbird of Paradise 
I am no expert but I watch shows like House Hunters International and it seems Europeans live way different than us – not many people live in single family houses and even the ones that do seem to be more sociable. The way we live in Canada – especially on the prairies – we should have virtually zero cases. 🤦
I agree. Even in Canadian cities, we live some distance from our neighbours. We really should have fewer cases.
That’s interesting to look at the percentage per population. In Nova Scotia we are doing pretty good..lots of space between us. Hoping the vaccine will get us back to our norm.
I find the number per 100,000 population much more helpful than the raw numbers. And, yes, I am hoping for a return to normal asap!