It’s been a while since I’ve reported on current COVID-19 number trends. I am sad to say that there have now been over 100,000 reported deaths from COVID-19 worldwide. It’s a disturbing milestone to say the least! Keep in mind that the USA is recently predicted possibly more than twice that number of deaths just within their own country in the coming months. Click here for more information on their modeling data.
In the last few days I’ve seen a lot of talk about how Sweden is handling COVID-19, which amounts to a comparative “hands off approach” compared to most countries. I took a look at their numbers courtesy of Worldometers, and 70% of their known closed COVID-19 cases have resulted in death. In Canada that number is currently at 9%.
BC Ferries have been reporting a lot of traffic for the long weekend, despite many requests for people to hold off from travelling at the moment. But while ferries are filling up on sailings, we need to also remember that the maximum capacity for each sailing has been cut significantly. Also, there are less sailings happening currently than their normally would be. So while it looks like everything is filling up, the actual number of people travelling is in fact much less than in previous years. More info can be found here and here.
Some interesting pandemic related information I would also like to share with you today is that the major tennis event Wimbledon (which has been cancelled, of course) has been paying for pandemic insurance since the SARS outbreak almost 20 years ago. To-date they have paid out ~$34 million USD for the coverage, and they are expected to receive a $141 million USD payout for their cancelled event. I sincerely hope whomever pitched the suggestion to get pandemic insurance gets a sizable bonus over that smart move. I wonder how many events will be looking for pandemic insurance in the future? Click here for more info on the Wimbledon pandemic insurance story. And click here for more information on the effect of COVID-19 on the insurance industry.
That’s all for now, stay safe everyone!
BC COVID-19 Info 