Critical Releases in Homeland Security: March 25, 2020

This map contains ongoing and updated global data for cumulative confirmed cases and active cases of of the coronavirus COVID-19.

From the Document: "The coronavirus outbreak has been accompanied by rumors and fake news that aim to increase fear about the pandemic or to assign blame for its spread. The rumors are promoted by states with an interest in hiding their domestic situations or diverting attention from their handling of the issue, by ingenuous civilians, and by conspiracy theorists and the media, which repeat some of the lies. Over time there is a greater awareness of the dissemination of baseless or biased information, and a greater need to address the phenomenon. This occurs through the cooperation of international organizations, technology companies, and state institutions. Civil society and the traditional media are part of the effort, though it seems that they are the weak links in the chain. Consequently, increased public awareness and formal organization on this issue are needed in order to minimize the contamination of the discourse."

From the Overview: "Since the World Health Organization (WHO) first declared Covid-19 a world health emergency in January 2020, the virus has been detected in over 150 countries and almost all U.S. states. The infection has sickened more than 200,000 people, with thousands of fatalities. On March 11, the WHO announced that the outbreak was officially a pandemic, the highest level of health emergency. During that time, it has become clear that the outbreak is negatively impacting global economic growth. The virus is affecting a broad swath of economic activities, from tourism, medical supplies and other global value chains, consumer electronics, and financial markets to energy, food, and a range of social activities, to name a few. Without a clear understanding of when the health and economic effects may peak economic forecasts must necessarily be considered preliminary. Efforts to reduce social interaction to contain the spread of the virus are disrupting the daily lives of most Americans."

From the Document: "The attached list identifies workers who conduct a range of operations and services that are essential to continued critical infrastructure viability, including staffing operations centers, maintaining and repairing critical infrastructure, operating call centers, working construction, and performing management functions, among others. The industries they support represent, but are not necessarily limited to, medical and healthcare, telecommunications, information technology systems, defense, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, energy, water and wastewater, law enforcement, and public works."

From the Document: "Without social distancing, the rapidly escalating COVID-19 infection rate in the United States will result in significant morbidity and mortality for a large percentage of American citizens within months. As of March 18, 2020, there were more than 7,600 confirmed infections in the United States. The rate of increase in domestic cases (which varies somewhat from day-to-day depending upon how you measure) is now estimated to be in the range of 25 to 40 percent per day near to or eclipsing the alarming rates of case growth occurring in France and Italy, where governments have recently instituted strict social distancing actions to prevent further transmission. Our work suggests that without significant social distancing in the United States, the COVID-19 virus could infect millions within months."