How bad is the US virus?

How bad is the US virus? Bad:

It looks no better smoothed:

Where there has been some improvement is the mortality rates:

Hospitalisations have fallen as a ratio of cases versus both first and second waves. Deaths lag by a month so that ratio is likely to bottom here and begin to rise again.

There has been some improvement thanks to refined treatments and younger patients. But, despite the declining ratios, the pandemic is so out of control now that hospitalisations and deaths are climbing as well. Like Europe, it will not be long before the former reaches critical mass for capacity and the mortality ratio will accelerate.

More US lockdowns (likely localised) are inevitable.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.