This update is designed to put everything into perspective with straight-forward facts.
A lot changed on Wednesday in ways that began to affect everyday life. This included President Trump’s address announcing a 30-day travel ban for people entering the United States from Europe, excluding England, and the NBA postponing the season indefinitely. The news in Florida that senior care facilities are restricting access and polling places are being moved in advance of next week’s elections. There will almost certainly be more to come. Again, we’re early in the US for this virus.
As a reminder, according to the Task Force, those over the age of 60 are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Officials stated that the symptoms are least severe with those who are youngest and the effects are less severe than the common flu for children. This is different than most viruses, which are most dangerous for those oldest and youngest. The task force also indicated the average age of death for someone due to the virus is 80.
In Florida, we now have 29 instate cases, two deaths, and zero recovered. In the U.S. there are 1,336 cases, 38 deaths, and 15 recovered. While worldwide there are 126,483 cases, 4,636 deaths and 68,314 recovered.
The United States remains 8th in the world in total cases. The most disconcerting aspect of the virus at this point remains the death/recovery rate based on closed cases. It’s remained static at 6% for eleven days. In the United States, we’ve experienced more deaths than recoveries thus far by a greater than 2 to 1 margin. To put this in perspective, let’s say every American obtained the H1N1 flu virus. Based on its average death rate it’d kill 165,000 Americans. If the COVID-19 virus maintained its current death rate and every American contracted it, 19.8 million Americans would die. Again, I’m not at all trying to be an alarmist. Those are just the facts. Hopefully, we begin to see progress with the death rate and the end of winter which is just around the corner.
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