This daily update is designed to put everything into perspective with straight-forward facts. Monday was the day the COVID-19 crisis crossed 3,000 deaths, making the crisis more deadly than the terror attacks on 9/11/2001.
China has reported six straight days of fewer than 100 new cases, as Spain has now passed China in diagnosed case counts. Questions remain about the validity of these numbers but if even somewhat true, it's encouraging and could provide a timeline for turning the corner in this country. One of the other bright spots on the horizon is the recent FDA approval of yet another new test by Abbot Labs that can produce results in as few as 5 minutes. This is separate from the other tests which were approved just over a week ago that can produce results in 45 minutes. The testing methods are rapidly improving.
In Florida, there are 5,704 instate cases and 71 deaths. In the US, we have 164,266 cases, 3,170 deaths, and 5,507 recovered. Worldwide, there are 786,940 cases, 37,843 deaths, and 165,932 recovered.
We experienced more than 63k additional cases worldwide on Monday with more than 22,000 new cases in the US and 681 additional deaths. The United States continues to lead the world in total cases by a wide margin over Italy and Spain. In slightly more promising news, nearly a thousand Americans were proven to have beaten the virus Monday as we have more total recoveries than deaths in our country.
Looking at our state, we had 637 new cases and 11 deaths in Florida over the past 24 hours. But, despite the increases, Florida remains 6th in the country in total cases and we’re the third most populous state. Additionally, the new case count is lower than the three prior days. We’re performing better than most states on a relative basis.
Monday brought about a series of new executive orders by Governor DeSantis. These included a “Safer At Home” order for Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties through at least mid-April. The governor also provided a timeline that potentially will extend current emergency measures in place through mid-May. This after scientific modeling suggests the virus may peak in early May. Another order allows retired state law enforcement and health care professionals to return to work to meet the state’s needs during the coronavirus crisis. DeSantis also was able to secure recently FDA approved medicine to treat COVID-19 from Israeli provider Teva pharmaceuticals.
The range in age for positive tests in our state ranges from six months to 96. More than half of all of Florida’s cases currently are in the tri-county area with Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach having the most cases in the state in that order.
- Broward: 1,137
- Miami-Dade: 1,701
- Palm Beach:463
We continue to see a high rate of positive test results in Florida. To date, nearly 10% of all tests for COVID-19 have come back positive. That’s up from last week and perhaps indicates that community spread has been occurring. Florida’s positive test rate remains much higher than the guidance provided by the Coronavirus Task Force of 1%-4% worldwide.
The further we get into testing and this process, it’s unlikely we’re just documenting people who already had it and are just being documented. The highest concentration of cases is coming from those between the ages of 45-54. Followed by those who are 55-64.
photo by: AFP/GettyImages