Lying or Ignorant - Half the World's Population Doesn't Know

Sometime in the next few months, the US, most of Europe and many other nations will pass through the peak period of the coronavirus crisis.  We won't be out of danger, but we might be able to get back to a more normal life.  However, there is still a massive ticking time bomb waiting to plunge the world back into a second phase of contagion.

One third of the world's people live in countries that are either incapable of accurately measuring the extent of coronavirus in their populations, or their governments are actively providing the world with disinformation regarding the extent of the Covid-19 within their populations.

			POSITIVE TESTS	DEATHS
India	1,352,642,280		2341	68
Indonesia	267,670,543		1790	10
Pakistan	212,228,286		2386	32
Bangladesh	161,376,708		56	6
Russia	146,745,098		3548	30
Mexico	126,577,691		1378	37
Vietnam	95,545,962		277	0
Thailand	69,428,453		1875	15
Myanmar	53,582,855		20	0
Malaysia	32,772,100		3116	50
Cambodia	15,288,489		110	0
Laos	7,061,507		10	0
Totals	2,540,919,972		16907	248
	33%		1.7%	0.5%

                                                                                  Data from Worldmeters - April 2

The nations listed above have a combined population of 2.5 billion - one third  of the global population.  As of April 2, these countries had just 1.7% of the world's positive Covid-19 tests and amazingly just one half of one percent of world's virus related fatalities.  

I didn't include the 1.7 billion  living in Africa and South America in the calculation above and I also excluded several of the former Soviet Republics as their current numbers are highly questionable.  Nor, did I include China in the table above, but it is highly likely that China is not being forthright regarding the spread of the disease within the world's most populous country.

So, by summer, we are going to try and restart the world's economy in a circumstance where more than half of the world's population live in countries with only a limited understanding of the extent of the disease within their boundaries.  Or, where many of those countries are deliberately hiding information regarding the virus' spread within their populations.  

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