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United States
Nursing Home Cases
Residents and employees of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in the United States have accounted for 34% of all COVID-19 deaths in the country. Research has shown that COVID-19 is particularly lethal to adults over 60 years of age who have underlying health conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that nursing home populations are particularly vulnerable as the virus can spread more easily through congregate facilities where people live in more confined spaces and workers move from room to room. This map by The New York Times shows the share of each state’s death rates that are linked to long-term care facilities. Over 94,000 people have died in nursing homes across the United States since the pandemic began with the state of New Hampshire recording 81% of all deaths linked to such facilities. Over 662,000 cases of COVID-19 have been in U.S. nursing homes, which is over 6% of total cases in the country.
This map depicts that in 14 states, at least half of all COVID-19 deaths are linked to nursing homes. Click on the map to learn more.
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Bhutan, China & India
Build Up Along the Border
Recent satellite imagery revealed China has been developing along its disputed border with Bhutan and India. The imagery shows the construction of military storage bunkers, a supply depot, and other infrastructure believed to have occurred this year. One part of the development, a new village named Pangda, was constructed on the Bhutanese side of the disputed border. Other developments, while built on the Chinese side of the border, are located very near to the site of a months-long military standoff between India and China in 2017. The disputed border between the three countries is located in the Doklam area in the Torsa River valley. The area is claimed by both China and Bhutan, though it is strategically important to India, as it provides a very narrow link between the northeastern states of India and the capital region around New Delhi.
This map depicts the recent construction in the Doklam area of the Torsa River valley. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: MAXAR
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China
Lunar Space Mission
China launched its robotic Chang’e-5 spacecraft early Tuesday morning in a mission to retrieve rock samples from the Moon. The spacecraft is scheduled to return back to Earth in mid-December. It has been 40 years since lunar rock and soil was last brought back for analysis; China aims to be the third country to achieve this, behind the U.S. and Russia. The extremely complex mission is a multi-step process, requiring an orbiter, a lander-ascender, and a return component. Chang’e-5 will target the location on the moon known as “Mons Rümker,” a volcanic region where the rocks in that area are believed to be much younger than the rock gathered from previous American and Soviet lunar missions. The new samples will hopefully improve scientists’ understanding of the Moon’s volcanic history, and help answer more broad questions about volcanism and magmatism in the inner Solar System planets.
This map depicts the trajectory of the Chang’e-5 spacecraft from launch to landing. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Dating back at least 55 million years, which desert holds the title of being the world’s oldest?
A: Namib Desert
Located along south-western Africa’s Atlantic coast, the Namib Desert extends more than 2,000 km (1,242.7 mi) from southern Angola through Namibia and into northern South Africa. It stretches eastward from the coastline, reaching up to 160 km (99.4 mi) inland to the edge of southern Africa’s Great Escarpment. One of the most dangerous areas of the desert is a 500 km (310.6 mi) expanse of soaring sand dunes known as the Skeleton Coast which is scattered with whale carcasses and nearly 1,000 shipwrecks.
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Q: With an area of over 1,564,100 sq km (603,902 sq mi), and a population of just over 3.2 million, which independent country has the lowest population density?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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