Quick thread.

It’s become fashionable to criticize the US response to coronavirus. Perhaps that’s warranted. But cases are spiking across Europe and it’s gone unremarked across much of the media.

I ran the numbers. It’s grim, particularly compared to new US cases.

France

New cases: 29,641
Population: 67 million

Cases adjusted for US pop: 145,108
Actual US cases: 55,291

There’s still apples to oranges a bit, here, but for context, that would be about double the highest single-day case total in the US so far.

United Kingdom

It isn’t just France, either. This is all over Europe.

New cases: 17,502
Population: 67 million

Cases adjusted for US pop: 85,681
Actual US cases: 55,291

Spain

New cases: 12,052
Population: 47 million

Cases adjusted for US pop: 84,107
Actual US cases: 55,291

Belgium

New cases: 7,425
Population: 11.5 million

Cases adjusted for US pop: 211,773 (!!)
Actual US cases: 55,291

The Netherlands

New cases: 9,720
Population: 17.3 million

Cases adjusted for US pop: 184,286
Actual US cases: 55,291

Poland

New cases: 8,099
Population: 38 million

Cases adjusted for US pop: 69,907
Actual US cases: 55,291

To be clear, the number of US cases is still going up, and doing so rapidly. Plus, we’re heading for flu season, which could cause additional problems and complications, as could holiday travel/having to be inside. The US system may be particularly ill equipped for this.

Also, as I’ve pointed out time and time again, the number of cases is not nearly as important as the number of deaths.

But a few months ago, when the numbers were inverted, we got a lecture about how bad America’s response was. These were the parameters they had used.

Remember when @nytimes interviewed a bunch of fake concerned Europeans about how terrible America’s response was?

Remember @AP’s coverage of the “astonishment and alarm” among Europeans?

Remember this sentiment - expressed by @AbdulElSayed here and plenty of others across social media - that a US passport is no longer good for anything?

It was a @CNN topic of conversation, too.

Where are all the follow up takes? Where’s the concerned coverage about the problems with Europe’s response? Is @nytimes going to interview any Americans about how we “feel sorry” for Europeans? My DMs are open.

There’s a lot of power in what media covers versus what they don’t. This feels like an example of inconvenient information - suggesting that America’s response (and by extension, President Trump’s) may be better than originally thought - being ignored.