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United States
Hospitals Dangerously Full
The pandemic has taken a toll on health care facilities, including how many inpatient and ICU beds are available on a weekly basis. Using analysis from the University of Minnesota’s COVID-10 Hospitalization Tracking Project, NPR has created a map compiling data measuring how many beds are filled with COVID-19 patients for each hospital and on average for each county. The ratio of COVID-19 hospitalizations to total beds assists in evaluating the strain on the hospital. While there’s no clear threshold, it’s concerning when that rate raises above 10% hospital capacity. Anything above 20% represents “extreme stress”, and a figure near 50% indicates an overloaded hospital, meaning other services in that hospital are being delayed. More than 83,000 people in the U.S. are currently hospitalized with COVID-19.
This map depicts the percentage of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients last updated February 7, 2021. Click on map to learn more.
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ebola Reemerges
The deadly virus has reemerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after a woman died in Butembo in the North Kivu Province on February 3, three days after she first showed symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported more than 70 contacts of the victim had been identified and that disinfection procedures are underway. The most recent outbreak of Ebola killed 55 last year. News of the infection comes as the DRC, like much of Africa, is dealing with new waves of infection from the coronavirus, which has already proved to have severe strains on health resources. Although it is too early to say the seriousness of the new Ebola outbreak, the Congo fears the worst due to its history of outbreaks since the infection was first discovered in 1976. The deadliest Ebola epidemic in history happened in West African countries, when 28,000 people were infected and 11,000 died between March 2014 and June 2016.
This map depicts the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the locations where recent Ebola case was documented. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Guardian
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World
Fossil Fuels Cause Death
Fossil fuel-related air pollution was responsible for 8.7 million deaths around the world in 2018, representing nearly one-in-five people who died that year, according to new research published today in Environmental Research. Half of the air pollution deaths occurred in China and India, with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States accounting for another million deaths each. Using emissions, health consequence, and population data coupled with air circulation patterns from NASA, researchers developed a new risk assessment model for air pollution related illnesses and found previous estimates had undercounted deaths by nearly half. Coronary heart disease was the leading cause of air pollution-related deaths, followed by lung disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
This map depicts excess deaths related to air pollution. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Stretching nearly 3,000 miles (4,828 km), which country in Africa boasts the longest coastline?
A: Madagascar
Located off the coast of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean and covering 228,900 sq miles (592,800 sq km), Madagascar is billed as the fourth largest island in the world after Greenland, New Guinea, and Borneo. The country’s long and beautiful coastline is home to several national parks, including Baie de Baly, a marine-coastal protected area with mangrove ecosystems and 86% of the Madagascar’s waterfowl species. The marine waters off the shore of Madagascar are home to the coelacanth, a fish once thought to be extinct for millions of years.
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Q: At a surface area of 143,244 mi² (371,000 km²), what is the largest in-land body of water on Earth?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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