The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard, which updates throughout the day with data from around the world, for Thursday morning, April 23, at 5:31 a.m.:

Worldwide:  2,659,557 cases,  185,494 deaths

U.S.: 843,981 cases,  46,859 deaths

Hawaii now has 592 cases of COVID-19, with 444, or around 75%, recovered.  The State Department of Health says Hawaii Island has 67, at least 32 of which are related to the outbreak that started with one McDonald’s worker in Kona.  All three Kailua-Kona McDonald’s are now closed.

The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard went public on January 22, 2020,  as it was clear the virus was spreading worldwide.  Although the initial symptoms are flu-like –fever, aches and pains, respiratory symptoms — it can be a far more serious disease, or, it can have few symptoms.   The number of deaths in the United States in the three months of tracking are now similar to the number of deaths in the U.S. for an entire flu season, which runs from October 1 through May.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)  estimates that influenza in the United States has resulted in between 9 million and 45 million illnesses and between 12,000 and 61,000 deaths annually since 2010.   For the 2018-2019 flu season, the estimates are that up to 56 million people in the US may have had it,  with deaths  between 26,339 and 52,664.  The estimates are because not everybody is tested for and confirmed to have influenza.  In addition, the death certificates may not list “influenza” as the cause of death.

According to the CDC, seasonal  flu can occur any time of year but is most prevalent in the Fall and Winter.

Worldwide, the World Health Organization says season influenza epidemics are estimated to result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness, and about 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory deaths.

Robert Redfield, M.D., head of the CDC, has in recent days advised everybody to get a flu shot when available for the next round  of flu.  He has pointed out that when both influenza and COVID-19 are in the community next Fall, health care providers and hospitals will be challenged if there is an onslaught of both diseases.  A vaccine for COVID-19 is not going to be available to the general public until at least early 2021.